Chapters Dear Princess Celestia
I know it's been awhile since we last spoke and I'm sure Canterlot has been very busy ever since Tirek escape and his defeat, but I think something is very wrong here in Ponyville, do you know about the Miss Fortune make up line that was released Saturday? Because everypony in Ponyville has been acting very bizarrely ever since they've started using that make up, I've noticed it in almost everypony who's used it including Spike! And he only used it to try and cover up some suddenly discoloured scales on his face! I've noted down some of the weird symptoms and behavioural changes I've been able to notice in other ponies whenever they've come into contact with other ponies:
Intense aggression Sudden mood swings Unusual amounts of wetness in the eyes Rapid saliva production Increased temperature Fur/Scale loss
Spike was the first creature that I noticed began to rapidly lose scales after I found some of his discoloured scales discarded in the bathroom, I was hoping you'd be able to help so I'm sending them to you in this scroll, try to be careful with them as to avoid contamination. I am aware that I probably sound very overly frightened about something that could just be an outbreak of some sickness but I fear this is somehow connected with that Miss Fortune make up line, please write back to me when you get chance.
-Your friend Princess Twilight Sparkle
Author's Note
I was hoping this story would be better written, I suspected that something more akin to less story and more mystery would be better
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle
I am questioning whether the previous letters you have sent me are some kind of unusual joke that you have come up with, and if so, this is a very poor sense of humour to be using for such a very severe topic. I had not heard anything involving any kind of new make up brand being produced in recent days or even recent weeks, so I am unfamiliar with anything that could relate to this topic I must question whether you have accidentally cast some kind of perceptive manipulation spell or consumed something that was imbued with similar kinds of magic, that would certainly explain why you would believe such things to such a degree.
As for the 'symptoms' that you have listed, I cannot name infection or disease with all of those symptoms that have existed during my thousand year reign over Equestria, so I am unable to assist with this, I apologize my student, if you can show me some kind of evidence of this make up brand or any of the afflicted ponies then perhaps I will be able to understand more clearly
-Princess Celestia
"Hopefully this is enough to assist, I cannot understand what would cause such an unusual set of letters..." Celestia muttered to herself, her yellow aura of magic was swirling around the scroll as she rolled it up then she placed her royal seal onto the letter to hold it in place, then she turns her head to look out at the raising moon with her mane darkening at her decreasing levels of positive emotions. Celestia then shot a beam of solar light down upon the rolled up scroll until it was reduced to a wisp of yellow magic which shot itself out through the nearby doorway leading out to the royal balcony, Celestia then sighed softly and lays her head down onto the pillows resting around her with the thoughts that dominated her mind being those involving the possibility that everything Twilight had documented could even slightly be proved accurate.
Dear Twilight Sparkle
I have received your most recent scroll, and I am heartbroken to inform you that I am unable to continue assisting with the attempts to negate the potential spread of this affliction, Canterlot seems to be experiencing an influx of unusually sick ponies I am fearful that the affliction that has been spreading through Ponyville might've found some way to infect Canterlot, I wish I could give better news but I am unable to do so at this time. I hope the best for everypony in Ponyville I must however note that there is a possible solution or cause of this affliction, Discord. He already proved himself capable of betraying Equestria, he already did so with Tirek and despite his turn back to the good side, I fear this might be another case of his relapse back into villainy I would suggest using the Elements of Harmony to summon Discord and neutralize him before he continues posing a threat to Equestria, if he is not the source then we can simply reverse the spell cast to imprison him, this is simply to make sure that the affliction is not being caused by Discord But, until then. Canterlot is officially closing its borders to the rest of Equestria, me and Luna have also been informed by my adviser, Raven Inkwell, that our services are better suited in Canterlot I hope all is well within Ponyville
-Sincerely, Celestia
Dear Princess Celestia
It's only been a day since my last letter and I've got some less than pleasant news to share about the recent aggressive sickness that I've noticed around Ponyville, I think the ponies here are...Changing somehow I mean they've begun loosing fur like I mentioned in my previous letter, but I mean they've begun to literally start shifting states in their own physical bodies, for example? I've needed to keep Spike in the basement to try and calm him down, but I could see the green spines on his head shifting their shape and turning sharper, it was similar to when he was entering his 'Dragon Greed' state awhile ago.
I've been trying to examine the cause but I have been unsuccessful at the current moment, I've even tried sending some of my research to Fluttershy since she has a much broader understanding on the knowledge of animals but I haven't gotten a response yet. I'm hoping she's just busy with her animals, because I've been unable to find her in the cottage even after taking a quick flight over the area to see if I could find her, I experienced the same with Rarity and Rainbow Dash, but I was able to find Pinkie Pie and Applejack in their respective houses, Unfortunately, Applejack informed me that Big Mac has disappeared after some of the 'infected' townsfolk, as she has chosen to call them, arrived in Sweet Apple Acres to try and pull them out to some kind of celebration, Big Mac apparently went completely alone after lying about his family not being home and hasn't been seen since
Listen, I know this is incredibly bizarre for me to bring up, and it is possibly something I can handle myself but I need to ask for your help, I need you to send some royal guard down to Ponyville to try and help me handle this situation, I fear this might be far more dangerous than many of the other bizarre occurrences that have transpired within Equestria in recent years.
-Your friend Princess Twilight Sparkle
Dear Princess Celestia
What do you mean? I would never joke about this! I may not be the most knowledgeable when it comes to jokes, you can ask Discord if you don't believe me. But I would never make a joke about something this serious And if this doesn't sound familiar to you, indicates that this affliction is indeed new, or might not be something you have personally handled during your thousand years of life, or just rule over Equestria
I was able to gather some of the make up that Spike had been keeping in the bathroom, I was forced to dig them out of the trash but I was more than willing to make that kind of sacrifice if it meant proving my claims to be true, I've even included a few pictures of Spike to show the effects I've noticed from Dragons. I've even begun noticing some new and deeply concerning symptoms from Spike while keeping him contained in the basement, I'll document them here so you can get an understanding on what I've discovered;
Vocal mimicry(Spike has begun near perfectly replicating my own voice, he's getting better at it) Contagion immunity(I learned it by accident after discovering one of my potions was leaking and Spike remained unharmed despite the potion being near fatal to ponies and critters) Increased aggression Unnatural hunger Blackened eyes Discoloured scales around claws and fingers Strange growths on back near shoulder blades(I'm beginning to wonder whether they're some kind of wing growths?) Hunger for meat(Spike refuses to consume anything aside from meat, and he's been eating pretty frequently) Hyper acute senses(Spike seems to detect the tiniest sounds from far away, he managed to hear a page being moved by the breeze from my bedroom!) Disconcerting lack of blinking(He can go almost two whole hours without blinking, and he's always staring at me, Applejack came to the library an hour ago and Spike didn't pay her any mind, maybe it's caused by some kind of bonding?)
I am still trying my best to figure this out, hopefully the contents of this letter, along with the photographs I've attached are enough to sincerely prove I am not making any of this up.
-Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle
"Alright, these should be perfect in proving everything that's been going on." Twilight spoke with an unusual level of confidence, she levitates four photographs off her nearby desk and places them against the scroll so she was able to connect the photos with the paper, she then shoots a beam of amethyst light onto the scroll to mimic Celestia's usual spell which reduced the letter into a violet coloured wisp which disappeared from view as it flew itself out from her sight. Twilight let out a tired sigh as she glanced towards the silent Spike who was staring at her with his almost pitch black eyes, she let out an annoyed groan at Spike's continued silence along with his continued staring so she unfurled her wings and trots out from the room to clear her head in the peaceful emptiness of the nearby bathroom despite Spike remaining stone faced as he stared at the wall separating the two of them.
Celestia was resting in the peaceful embrace of the blanket formerly resting on her bed, her head resting on her pillows until a magical burst formed before her which left a scroll plopping to the ground with the familiar scent of Twilight's magic emanating in the air, "Twilight? Another scroll already? Hm, she's never been this quick to send scroll before" Celestia mumbled softly as her horn inflamed with her dazzling yellow aura, she raised the scroll and unrolled it so she may gazed upon the contents until her eyes widened at the photos displaying the confusing yet horrific imagery proving Twilight's claims to be true. "Spike...What has happened to you? I have never seen something this...Horrible, in my life..." Celestia spoke softly but the words felt like acid burning through her tongue as each word emerged from her throat, her eyes burned with tears as she stared into Spike's lifeless yet still lively eyes indicating some level of sapient or at least functional anatomy. Celestia narrowed her eyes as she turned to look away from the horrible imagery, she then levitates a quill and untouched scroll before her and began to write her response without a moment of hesitation to stop her.
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle
I have received your letter and seen the evidence you have provided, I must confess I apologize for my lack of belief in you, but I must also confess that I have truly never seen this before, nor have I ever heard of anything like this happening anywhere in the entirety of Equestrian borders. This unnatural affliction has not yet breached the borders of Canterlot to my knowledge, I will be informing my sister of this as soon as possible, so we can both quarantine Canterlot to avoid the potential affliction spreading here. I will also inform the other kingdoms including the other pony cities to enforce similar quarantine guidelines to avoid potential spread, this situation is more dire than I suspected
This affliction does however seen to share one key similarity, aggression. You mentioned that the ponies who were originally afflicted began displaying increased levels of agitation and aggression, I would suggest gathering any uninfected ponies or creatures and taking them to your castle so they can be kept protected. This means you will be unable to go and find Big Macintosh, you cannot risk anypony becoming afflicted by this ailment when we are just starting to plan for it.
Take care of yourself my faithful friend, and may the universe be in your favour until our next communication
-Your friend, Princess Celestia
"This grows more dangerous, aggressive ponies with an infectious affliction? Could critters become afflicted. Can Alicorns? What would happen if we are afflicted?...Oh, take care of yourself Twilight..." Celestia thought to herself with her eyes widening then she glanced down towards the note that was hovering in her magic, Celestia cleared her throat and rolls the scroll up which she then clipped into place with her royal seal so she could safely send the scroll away. Celestia shot the scroll with her spell making the scroll disappear into the wisp yet again which swiftly escaped from the room as she returned to her four hooves and unfurled her wings to stretch them out for the inevitable flight to find her own sister, "Hopefully, we can help you in Ponyville after we've handled Canterlot, then we can see if this affliction can be undone." Celestia thought to herself yet again, she then galloped over to the doorway leading out to her balcony so she could jump over the railing, Celestia began to descend until she was pulled up into the air by her wings flapping in the air then she used to head towards Luna's royal spire with Luna stepping back into her spire in order to begin her royal duties within the ream of dreams.
"Spike. Stop making this so difficult! Just eat the food and try to get better, I cannot keep holding you in that cage! It's...Horrible, you don't deserve than when I can find a way to cure you!" Twilight begged with her voice echoing from desperation and the possibility that she may somehow fail to save her number one assistant, her magic was pushing a plate towards the cage holding Spike, Spike however remained unphased with his pupils expanding as he stared at Twilight with increasing concentration. "Spike! You can't just stare at me! You need to eat! I thought you ate meat! That's meat! So eat!" Twilight yelled out with her eyes filling with tears, her emotional tirade was momentarily silenced as she sensed the approaching power of Celestia's magic so she turned only to see a scroll materialising from a wisp of Celestia's solar magic, "Another letter. It would be nice if you'd use your powers and come see me yourself, Celestia. But that would mean getting in harms way." Twilight thought to herself as she levitates the scroll off the ground, Twilight pulled the seal away using her telekinesis and tossed it aside so she could unroll the scroll making her eyes momentarily pause when she began reading through the contents of the scroll.
"Oh now you believe me?! Ugh, well at least Canterlot is safe, hopefully. But how could this make up come out without Celestia being aware? Surely somepony as social as Celestia would require something like make up when constantly being around ponies." Twilight mumbled to herself as she placed the scroll down onto the nearby desk, her eyes were darting around the room as she questioned the unusual state of the situation then she turns to the stairs leading up to the castle. "Protect any uninfected ponies? I can handle that. First, letters for my friends. They need some more context on the situation" Twilight thought to herself as she galloped over to her desk, Twilight lifts a single quill off her desk so she could pull a nearby paper infront of her which she began writing on quickly.
Dear friends
I know this letter is not bringing or instilling much confidence, I must ask you listen to everything I am writing here on this letter. Ponyville is in danger, there is an unusual sickness spreading that is causing ponies to heavily change, Spike is suffering from this sickness and I am alerting you, you must come to my castle at once so you can be kept safe for the length that this sickness is active. I do not know how long Ponyville has left before the sickness begins spreading to other kingdoms or somewhere like Canterlot, I was informed by Princess Celestia that she is not aware of any infection there, please come to my castle as soon as you can before the situation grows anymore uncontrolled!
I have more than enough space for dozens of ponies in the entirety of Ponyville, I even have more than enough food to last us months due to Starlight's concern about requiring as much brain food for her studies. I am awaiting your response, please use the spell I will be marking on the bottom of the scroll to send it back with a written response, I hope all is well for you my friends
-Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle
Twilight stared at the scroll with her eyes already filling with tears, "This is completely crazy, this can't be real." Twilight spoke softly as she covered her face with her hooves, she paused when she heard the sound of claws scraping against metal so she turned to see Spike had slightly shifted in his place so he was grabbing the bars of his cage. Twilight stared into the black voids that were slowly overtaking Spike's eyes until she felt herself suddenly beginning to move which forced her to turn her had away, "Get a hold of yourself Twilight. Your friends need you. Equestria might need you again." Twilight growled out as she bashed her hooves against her own face, Twilight felt the ache from her hooves colliding with her face until she lowered her forelegs and glanced towards the unsent scroll laying on her desk. Twilight narrowed her eyes as her violet magic lifts the scroll off the table then she struck the scroll with a bolt of similarly coloured violet magic that expanded outwards, Twilight squints her eyes as the scroll multiplied itself into five perfect copies of the original scroll that she had written.
"Hopefully my friends are okay, maybe they're not infected, maybe they're just...Hiding? Staying out of the way?..." Twilight spoke quietly as if attempting to convince herself more than trying to convince anypony else in her environment of such a possibility, Twilight shook her head and zaps each of the scrolls with her personal transmission spell reducing all five of them into wisps of violet coloured magic. Twilight flicks her head towards the doorway making all five wisps float their way out through the staircase until they disappeared from Twilight view, Twilight was left in silence until she let out a breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding so she glanced towards Spike. Spike was still staring towards her with his eyes seeming to have slightly changed to express some undeniable degree of anger or discomfort at the situation, "Oh don't look at me like that. You're the one who won't look away from me." Twilight spoke out with her eyes narrowed, she then trots over to the staircase with her wings momentarily unfurling until she had disappeared from the room, Spike was left in silence as his claws scraped against the bars with the metal slowly getting cut as he clenched his fingers around the bars.
"Spike. Stop making this so difficult! Just eat the food and try to get better, I cannot keep holding you in that cage! It's...Horrible, you don't deserve that when I can find a way to cure you!" Spike mimicked with his voice sounding like some kind of replication being done through magical communication, Twilight rubbed her temples with her hooves to try and ease the already approaching headache from Spike's continued attempts to replicate her voice, "Spike. Stop it. I can't help you if you won't stop." Twilight groaned out as she turned to glare at the baby dragon, Spike was just sitting within his cage with the bars still slowly crumbling despite Twilight never noticing as Spike's fingers slowly moved towards one another.
"Spike. You've got to eat. I can't get you healthy again if you won't eat." The baby dragon whispered in yet another horrible attempt to replicate Twilight's voice, Twilight growled softly in anger at the continually deteriorating vocal replication that seemed to be growing worse and worse with every attempt. "You've managed to replicate my voice before. How are you screwing it up now?! What the buck could be causing you to struggle? Does the infection be causing some kind of mental relapse?" Twilight spoke softly and considerably as she raised herself back onto her hooves and began to pace around the cage slowly, Twilight examined the imprisoned baby dragon carefully to evaluate any other unseen changes to his body until she froze after noticing the two blackened spots on Spike's back had begun getting larger.
"Oh. My. Celestia...What in the Luna are those?..." Twilight whispered to herself as she began to slowly approach the cage onto to stop when Spike smacked his tail against the ground, Twilight jolts backwards from the sudden motion and unfurled her wings out of pure uncontrolled instinct at the sudden and deeply unusual action. "Spike. Why did you do that? You've never...Smacked your tail to keep me away." Twilight questioned as she folded her wings against the sides of her back yet, Spike however remained motionless and silent even as Twilight's horn began to glimmer and sparkle with a dazzling violet hue. "Spike. Please, talk to me...I need my number one assistant right now, I can't do this without help, and I certainly can't do this without the Princesses or my friends here for me..." Twilight begged in hopes that somehow her words could try and connect with the baby dragon, the words themselves were begging and seemed to make Spike shift slightly in his silent yet not motionless position.
"Number. One. Assistant." Spike responded with a cold and vacant tone in his voice, this time he didn't try and replicate Twilight's voice and instead spoke with his own, Twilight froze at the response and rushed to the front of the cage to look into Spike's seemingly empty eyes. "Yeah! You're my friend. My number one assistant, you've been with me for years! I've always kept you around because you're my first friend...You're the closest thing I've had to a little brother" Twilight answered with her eyes beginning to fill with tears at the memories she had shared with Spike in her youth, Spike himself seemed to momentarily jolt at the mention of Twilight seeing him as family which made Twilight lean down to look into his eyes as his mouth opened yet again. "Little. Brother." Spike whispered quietly, his tone had shifted from cold and vacant, to an emotionless yet still questioning aura around the two words he uttered, Twilight was left stunned at the suddenly increased level of mental capacity that was being displayed by Spike.
"Yes! You're like family. No, you are my family. Just like Shining Armour, just like my mom and dad, you're my family because you've been there for me, you've been with me for so long, even when you had every right to leave. Even when I was so unbearable that I would've preferred you'd have left me behind. Because that is what family is, being there for each other even when it hurts. And you've been there for me even when it hurts." Twilight responded with her lip quivering from the tears that were sliding down her cheeks and being absorbed by her fur, Twilight cleared her throat and raised her right fore hoof to wipe her eyes but paused when she noticed Spike's eyes raising to look into her own eyes. "Family. Means. Being. There." Spike whispered with more uncomfortable strain that Twilight was comfortable to hear, Twilight began to look around Spike's face for any sign that he was somehow struggling to speak however the baby dragon seemed to be in almost perfect health.
"Y-yeah, it means to be there for each other, it means to care for each other. My friends are my family, because they've been there for me. They've done exactly what you've done, but you? You've cared more about me for even longer than I've had friends! You're my little brother..." Twilight whispered as she pressed her right fore hoof against Spike's slightly scrunched up nose, Twilight could feel the powerful heat radiating out from Spike's scales due to his internal temperature being immensely high because of his draconic heritage. "Little. Brother. No. Not. Brother." Spike spoke with an even greater level of strain as his lips parted to reveal his fangs were pressed up against one another with ferocity, Twilight watched the seemingly unbelievable sight with her eyes growing wider at the strange comment that Spike had made. "Not brother? W-what do you mean?" Twilight asked with her horn beginning to illuminate with shimmering violet magic, the aura around Twilight's horn began to glow brighter as her fear and concern increased the potency of her magic.
"Not. Brother. I. Am. Son." Spike relented with his eyes beginning to grow wet with tears that quickly began to shed down his scalding hot cheeks, Twilight watched Spike with her eyes growing wide at the comment of Spike believing himself to be her own child despite never saying anything prior to his strange infection. "S-son? You...You think of yourself like I'm your mom?..." Twilight questioned with her voice sounding just louder than a whisper as she stared into Spike's strained eyes, Spike began to growl softly as his claws tightened around the bars causing the metal to begin bending around his fingers. "Twilight. Is. My. Mama." Spike whispered almost like he was trying to convince himself more than trying to actually respond to Twilight, Twilight was left stunned at the revelation until she noticed the bars were swiftly beginning to break beneath Spike's incredible levels of strength.
"Spike...If you see me as your mother, then I will take that position, but I need you to hear me. Please" Twilight begged but she jolts back when the metal bars containing Spike began to bend and pull apart, Twilight stepped away as the bars finally strained so far that Spike could pull them apart and climb out through the newly created opening between the bars. "Twilight. Is. Mama. And. Mama. Joins. Herd ." Spike growled out with his eyes reflecting a previously unseen level of malice that Twilight hadn't noticed when she was speaking with Spike, Twilight's horn began to burn with magic as Spike lowered himself to his hands and feet then he raced towards Twilight while hissing like some kind of serpent forcing Twilight to unleash her spell.
"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!
"Sister! Please! I'm telling you, they're in danger!" Celestia pleaded towards Luna who seemed uninterested with her sister's begging, Luna just sighed softly and shoots Celestia an icy glare for interrupting her when she was attempting to utilize her dream walking to fulfil her duties. "Celestia, neither of us have sensed anything changing in Equestria, and we both know that Discord would be returning if something was happening. So calm yourself, I'm sure Twilight has just discovered some sickness that's begun spreading through Ponyville, now please. Move out of my way so I can finish my duties for the night." Luna replied coldly, Celestia could do nothing but step away from Luna who lays down onto her legs and shut her eyes, Luna took a single deep breath as her horn was shrouded with a dazzling white aura of dream magic that sparkled with similar colours particles. "Luna, please..." Celestia whispered to the midnight blue tinted alicorn princess, Luna however kept her eyes closed until her eyelids began to squint from concern followed by the magical aura around her horn to cease suddenly.
"What..." Luna whispered then she gasped as her eyes shot open from a sudden wave of unspoken fear, Celestia was startled by Luna's unusual level of terror at some unseen horror that had given Luna such an undeniable and unexplainable level of true horrified fear. "I...I couldn't see the dreams of many Ponyville inhabitants. It is like their minds, were lost to my divine power. I cannot understand. No dream can hide from me." Luna questioned with her eyes darting around her royal chambers from confused fear, Celestia rushed to her sister and leans down to press her head against the head of her sister. "I told you something was wrong. Twilight informed me of bizarre occurrences happening in Ponyville, this isn't any normal infection or sickness, little sister, this is something new. Something truly malevolent. Something possibly older than us." Celestia responded with her naturally magenta eyes glistening with worried sadness for the safety of her ponies, Luna couldn't deny the mere possibility that something older than even the two of them existing in Equestria brought her immense levels of primal terror.
"Something older than us, older sister?..." Luna whispered in fear as Celestia briefly nodded in response to Luna's frightful question, both siblings were left in stunned silence at the mere possibility of something older and potentially more dangerous than anything that they had ever dealt with before. "Do not worry, I'm sure we can fix this. Perhaps the Elements can restore this?" Celestia mumbled in curious desperation, her eyes lowered towards the ground until both sisters were attracted to the sound of hooves galloping towards the royal chamber, both sisters turned towards the main door which burst open revealing Raven Inkwell sliding herself to a stop. "Your royal highnesses! I have immediate news that both of you must be informed of at once!" Raven gasped out as she skidded to a slow but steady halt infront of both princesses, Raven was panting from her brisk approach that had forced her to run from the throne room itself straight up to Luna's royal chambers.
"Of course, thou must wield knowledge of great importance! Speak and inform of thy untold revelation!" Luna blurted out in a desperate attempt to retain her socially accepted Olde Equestrian pronunciation, Raven Inkwell herself was left nodding in response as she cleared her throat to try and retain her lost energy. "Of course, of course. Um, I was in the royal throne room, I was signing off on some guard related documents until I was informed by one of the royal guards that the Canterlot hospital has begun expressing concern about an unnatural sickness that they've begun noticing within newly admitted ponies for the past three days!" Raven replied in desperation, the revelation left Luna and Celestia stunned since Celestia recalled obtaining Twilight's first scroll mentioning the unusual sickness just under four days ago, Celestia glanced to the side as she processed the discovery. "Twilight informed me that Ponyville had only started experiencing the sickness three days ago...It couldn't have spread from Ponyville to Canterlot so quickly...We haven't had anypony from Ponyville arriving in Canterlot for days, not since Rarity arrived to suggest her newest royal fashion line to us" Celestia said with an emotionally distant resolve as she began pondering the impossibility of the situation, her eyes narrowed as she felt her regal concern finally beginning to return as her fear burned away like the sun shone down upon her spirit.
"Raven! Canterlot is in incredible danger! Go and inform the nurse ponies that anypony displaying symptoms of this sickness must be quarantined until further notice. I will send them a royal scroll dictating the symptoms I have become aware of. My sister and I must inform the Canterlot ponies of the new quarantine guidelines that everypony must follow. That includes the royal guard and yourself. We cannot risk this sickness spreading." Celestia commanded with her royal Canterlot voice emerging for a few moments, Raven felt her body shaking from the royal power being commanded upon her but stood firm and nodded with confidence and understanding. "Yes your highness. I will not fail you, your majesty." Raven replied with her voice sounding firm despite her hooves still shaking from the adrenaline coursing throughout her body, Raven turns on her hooves and gallops back out from the royal chamber leaving Celestia and Luna alone in cold silence. "Sister, are you sure we can prevent a spread? Do you think anything can stop a spread?..." Luna asked with worry emanating from her voice with each word that bled from her mouth, Celestia merely smiled with a sisterly compassion that made Luna wrap her forehooves around Celestia's neck to hug her sister close to her own chest. "It will be okay, I promise you that, little sister" Celestia promised with her own eyes closing so she could hold Luna close, Celestia felt her sisters weight pressed down against her own until they both separated and turned towards the balcony of the royal chamber.
"HOW COULD SHE BE SO BLATANTLY COLD!? WHAT THE BUCK IS WRONG WITH HER?!" Twilight screamed out into the silent room, her horn flared up with violet light that shot out visible sparks of dazzling magic leaving Applejack scooting away from Twilight to avoid being struck by an unstable spell. "Twi, I don't think losin' ya mind is gonna help this. Your anger is fair but we've still got an entire town to save. Our friends are in danger 'member?" Applejack commented with her eyes narrowed from concern, Twilight was panting softly then she sighed softly, the glow around her horn slowly dissipates to revert back to its magicless state. "You're right. Forget them. We can handle this on our own. We've done it before. Buck them. If they don't care enough to help against major villains, then why would I expect them to care enough to help against" Twilight coldly replied, then she turns towards the doorway of the library only to hear Applejack climbing off the couch, Twilight turns to look at Applejack who smiled softly however Applejack's smile slowly fell away as she glanced towards the cut that was present on Twilight's flank.
"Applejack? Are you alright?" Twilight asked with her gaze softening from confusion, she then turns towards her flank but froze when she noticed that the fur around her flank was slowly growing thin and falling away towards the ground like thin flakes of pony descending down. "Twi...I think there's something wrong with ya..." Applejack quietly commented as they both stared at the impossible sight before them, Twilight felt her nerves shooting into overdrive as she watched her own fur slowly falling away from the unknown deterioration. "Oh sweet mother of...Oh no..." Twilight mumbled to herself, her eyes were wide with horror at the infection that was already corrupting and spreading its corruptive influence across her flank before their very eyes. "Oh my Celestia...Twilight, what is that?..." Applejack quietly questioned, Twilight just stared at her flank until her horrified eyes narrowed from a sudden and unexplained shockwave of adrenaline and terror that suddenly shot through her body.
"Applejack. Get to the kitchen and get me some vinegar. It'll sting like a scalpel carving through pony flesh. But it'll hopefully negate or at least slow down the spread, my alicorn magic should do the same for a short while. Must be why it's spreading so damn slowly." Twilight stated with powerful and royal authority, Applejack just stared in awe but shook her head only to immediately nod in response to Twilight's royal command, then Applejack dashed out from the room to find the kitchen as soon as possible. "So, you're trying to overtake the princess of friendship. I don't think so, now that you're part of me. I can try and understand you more clearly." Twilight whispered with her eyes growing even further narrowed, Twilight's horn began to illuminate once more until her violet aura dazzled and sparkled around her horn yet again with magic and power radiating from the tip of her now glowing appendage. "Show me your secrets. What magic might you be hiding from me." Twilight mumbled to herself as she lowered her horn towards the slowly festering infection patch, Twilight closed her eyes as she felt the tip of her magical aura brushing up against the still surviving flakes of fur that were present around her flank.
"Reveal. Reveal yourself to me." Twilight whispered softly, her eyes fluttering as her magic began to seep into the corruptive wound, Twilight could feel the calculations and knowledge seeping out and into her mind but paused once she began sensing a familiar dark energy from the depths of the wound. "What...What is? Oh...Oh no...NO!" Twilight cried out as she tried pulling her horn away, Twilight however felt a powerful shockwave of dark magic shooting through her horn and cracking the tip as she felt the shockwave crashing through her skull. "NO! LET ME GO!" Twilight screamed out, her violet magic was overtaken by a blood red aura of immensely powerful dark magic that forced Twilight to immediately reverse the spell she had attempted to cast. "I'D RATHER WIELD NO MAGIC THAN THIS!" Twilight yelled out as she slammed her hooves against her horn forcing the corruptive red magic to dissipate, Twilight was panting softly but winced when she felt her horn suddenly aching from the crack that had been created on the tip of her already strained horn.
"Twilight! I got the...Oh my lucky stars..." Applejack said joyfully but paused when she noticed Twilight's now dishevelled state, Applejack galloped over to Twilight from the doorway and pushed the injured alicorn down onto the couch, this would allow Applejack to examine the crack in her horn. "That damage, I've seen trees sufferin' less harm. How in the world could an Alicorn suffer that?" Applejack wondered as she lifts the bottle of vinegar up with her front right forehoof, Twilight watched Applejack then she turns over onto her own stomach for easier access to the right side of her flank. "Here, you're gonna need that. And pour it all. If apple vinegar can be used in stopping certain infections by bathing them. Then I'm hoping normal vinegar, mixed with Alicorn regeneration properties can somehow...I dunno, cure me?" Twilight questioned with a very hopeful glimmer in her eyes, Applejack tried to offer a reassuring smile that only served to make Twilight cringe at the obviously foolish possibility of her alleged curing, Applejack looks down but inhaled as her eyes began to glow orange yet again.
"Twi, I'm gonna be as honest as butter on bread, I can't say whether this'll cure ya, but I have hope that this'll somehow help. Maybe it's false hope, maybe it's just a desperate 'nd blind hope. But either way, I'm gonna stick with ya till the end of the line." Applejack stated confident and honestly, her eyes glowing brighter as she stared into the purple alicorn's pleading eyes, Twilight felt the comment resonating with her own person conflictions smiled softly with hope suddenly beating alongside her heart. "Alright. Better to take a risk rather than do nothing and lose everything. Pour it on." Twilight replied commandingly, Twilight raised her hooves to her mouth to cover any potential pained crying or screams, Applejack raised the bottle higher and moves it above Twilight's slowly deteriorating flank, Applejack blinks away the tears that began to form in her eyes. "Alright, hang on to your horn, Twi, cuz this is gonna hurt like a sunburn. Or worse." Applejack commented, then she tilts the bottle to the side until the sticky yet watery liquid began to pour out, Twilight and Applejack both winced when the fluid came into contact with the wound slowly spreading the infectious deterioration through twilight's body.
"OH SWEET MOTHER OF CELESTIA!" Twilight cried out beneath the muffling she had constructed using her hooves, the scream however startled Applejack enough to drop the bottle down onto Twilight's flank so she smacked the bottle away and watched the strange blackened flesh beginning to slow its spread. "Oh my...Twilight! It's workin'! The rot! It's stopped spreadin'!" Applejack cried out with glee, her emerald eyes emanating with elemental magic from the continued resonation with her innate element, Twilight on the other hoof was laying on the side of her head as she felt her entire body screaming out for the pain to cease. "It...It is...?" Twilight weakly asked, her eyes fluttering from the level of pain causing her body to grow weaker and strained as she tried to move, Twilight's breathing was quieter and ragged as she tried handling all the pain in her nerves. "Yeah, but you need rest. The rot stopped but you're still in pain." Applejack commented, then she stepped away so Twilight could weakly open her wings to try and show she was still capable of movement, Twilight's wings however drooped to the ground shortly after being commanded to move, Applejack watched Twilight in concern.
"Twi, I really think you need to-" Applejack replied but was silenced when they both heard something crashing outside the castle, Twilight's body jolted upright at the sound and the sudden wave of adrenaline it had induced upon her, Twilight turns towards Applejack then she glanced towards the door of the library. "I've heard many things in the past few years. I've even gone hoof to hoof with Tirek and battled him across the lands outside of Ponyville. And that? That was the sound of a pony crashing directly into the dirt." Twilight stated with widened eyes, both Applejack and Twilight began galloping to find the doorway of the castle so they escaped from the library and continued their trek through the crystal hallways of the castles internal layout. "Come on Twilight! You know the layout of your own castle!" Twilight stated while wracking her brain for the path they needed, then she felt a metaphorical lightbulb form in her head so she turns and gallops down a hallway to the left until they stepped out into the large chamber of the main room.
"Welcome back, now. We get outsid-" Twilight stated before she was cut off by a familiar yellow coloured Pegasus slamming the doors open revealing her dishevelled and exhausted body, Applejack and Twilight gasped as they gazed upon the tired and clearly injured Fluttershy standing on her hindlegs before them. "T-Twilight...A-Applejack...D-Discord...Discord is in danger!..." Fluttershy managed to blurt out, her wings weakly fluttering beside her however they were cracked and snapped in ways indicating that they were extremely and potentially permanently broken, then without warning, Fluttershy collapsed to the ground in a heap. "Oh my...Fluttershy!" Applejack cried out, she gallops to Fluttershy's side and began pressing her hooves against Fluttershy's neck to try and evaluate the heart beat of the Shy pony, Applejack sighed in relief after feeling the faint yet noticeable heartbeat against her hooves.
"So, we've got to inform everypony of this? And somehow expect all of them to follow with these 'guidelines' that you're going to magically know about?" Luna questioned scepticism resonating with each word, her voice sounded condescending however the look in her eyes emits the feeling of genuine concern about the potential harm they might cause to the ponies of Canterlot with a single use used word. "Well, we haven't got the time to try and construct some brilliant speech, now. Go and gather everypony, I'll join you when I'm finished here. I need to sent Twilight a scroll so she's aware of the situation" Celestia stated, then she shoos Luna towards the balcony so she could conjure herself a quill and scroll, Celestia's pushing made Luna frown only to turn around and gallop out onto the balcony before ascending into the sky with her midnight blue wings flapping through the air. "Excellent. Hopefully things are well with you, my dear Twilight." Celestia wished, then she telekinetically places the quill against the blank scroll, her eyes narrowed with consideration at the letter she could write until she took a deep breath and exhaled out the air she had inhaled before beginning to write.
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle
My former student, my dearest friend, I have the worst news I can reveal at this moment. Canterlot has been breached by this unknown infection, I was informed by my adviser Raven Inkwell, I hope to prevent continued infection swiftly, but I must inform somepony else Luna is aware of the situation and has revealed that the infected ponies do not have any connection with the Dream Realm, we fear that the infection disconnects their spirits from their body This is possibly confusing but I can explain to you, the spirit of an entity is what allows Luna to connect with them and their mind within the Realm of Dreams. This infection, it is somehow managing to strip those it infects of their souls. We must acquire a cure for this plague as soon as possible. I and my sister will be arriving in Ponyville as soon as possible to bring whatever aid we can. Please, inform me that something has gone well in Ponyville, I don't think I could handle discovering that something has happened to you.
-Sincerely, your former mentor and dearest friend Princess Celestia
Celestia stared down at the scroll, her regel demeanour swiftly began to crumble as she began to quietly cry at the mere thought of Twilight somehow succumbing to this unknown and potentially apocalyptic plague, Celestia wipes her eyes using her wings then she took yet another deep breath. "Control yourself Celestia. Your ponies need you. Everypony needs you." Celestia spoke commandingly, she had forced her authoritarian composure to re-emerge with her eyes beginning to glimmer with royal power, then she rolled the scroll up until she could conjure one of her royal seals which she placed around the scroll to hold it closed. "Please. Take care of yourself Twilight, I don't think I could lose another member of my family..." Celestia whispered to herself, then she struck the scroll with a beam of pure solar magic causing the scroll to disburse into a wisp of golden magic, the wisp flew itself out through the balcony with Celestia rushing after it closely and desperately. "Please my dear Twilight...We need you..." Celestia pleaded out into the air, part of her was hoping that her words would touch the ears of destiny itself, somehow gifting Twilight with some kind of protection but she could already tell that the world around them was not so willing to help them.
Fluttershy groaned softly, her eyes began to flutter as her hooves brushed against the soft surface of fabric resting around her, Fluttershy was momentarily confused before feeling the memories of her previous horrors rushing back into her mind that made her gasp and sit up in horror. "DISCORD!" Fluttershy cried out into the silent room, the scream startled Twilight and Applejack who were both talking around a nearby table, they both turned to look at Fluttershy who was panting softly as she climbed off the couch while trying to collect her thoughts. "Oh my gosh! Fluttershy! We didn't think you'd be awake already!" Twilight commented while standing on her hooves again, then she and Applejack walked up to the couch to prevent Fluttershy from trying to rush out from the castle without letting herself heal, Fluttershy tried to weakly move her wings only to discover they had been wrapped around her chest with bandages.
"Sorry, we needed to wrap 'em up to stop any other harm, Twi suggested the bandages cuz they're softer than something like rope" Applejack bluntly responded to Fluttershy's clearly confused expression, the honesty of the revelation left Fluttershy and Twilight both turning to look at Applejack with an almost appalled expression that she'd even imagine using rope to keep Fluttershy's wings down. "I wasn't plannin' to use any! I was just sayin'! Jeez..." Applejack immediately retorted before Twilight or Fluttershy could comment, Applejack glanced to the side leaving Twilight and Fluttershy to return to the seriousness of the situation, Twilight sighed softly in immediate disappointment then she raised her head to Fluttershy. "You've been unconscious for about an hour, we don't have any other safe places in the castle that also has medical supplies at a hoofs reach, I keep medical supplies in here considering this is basically the most dangerous place in the castle because of all the books" Twilight said with her eyes glancing around to look at the various bookshelves of books, Fluttershy briefly glanced around in much the same way for much the same reason before lowering her head towards the ground.
"Did...Did either of you see Discord? I...He sent me back through a portal before I could be hurt. I was hoping he would've been sent through as well?..." Fluttershy quietly questioned, the question left Twilight and Applejack stunned in concern that Discord was require casting Fluttershy back to the dangers of Equestria in order to protect her from whatever threat existed in whatever world he was inhabiting. "No? He didn't come through, we didn't even know where Discord was. I've tried contacting him and he's answered none of my calls. I've even tried screaming for him, nothing. It's been days since this outbreak started and we've been struggling with it while he's been Celestia knows where!" Twilight replied with an enraged tone, she turns around as she spoke then she kicks a nearby table over with her front right forehoof, then she tried to blast a nearby book with her magic only to immediately cease her enraged spell after feeling her head aching from her damaged horn.
"That's not true! He wasn't ignoring you! He was trying to keep me safe!" Fluttershy cried out, the comment made Twilight turn to glare at the yellow Pegasus with her own eyes slightly glowing from a spike of unreleased magical energy, Twilight stepped towards Fluttershy with her eyes narrowing. "What do you mean. How was he protecting you and how was he not ignoring me." Twilight coldly asked, her eyes were fuelled with a frightening amount of rage that both Applejack and Fluttershy could see, Applejack stepped between Twilight and Fluttershy to act as some kind of barrier between the two of them. "He was keeping me protected, he took me to his dimension. He kept me there after he began sensing some kind of cosmic magical imbalance. He tried curing Angel...Oh...Angel...But, his magic didn't understand why, so he took me in order to figure out some kind of plan" Fluttershy replied, her usually soft and compassionate eyes were narrow with anger as she noticed that Twilight was seemingly accusing Discord of willingly abandoning Equestria yet again.
"He kept saying his magic should be unstoppable. Only the magic of the Elements of Harmony could genuinely defeat him, but this infection. It was unique, it was resistant to anything he did" Fluttershy resumed her explanation, her eyes narrowed and lowered towards the ground as she recalled the events that transpired, the explanation left Applejack and Twilight quiet at the discovery of Discord truly being unable to cure the infection. "Discord. The Lord of Chaos and the one creature in existence capable of mangling reality itself. Totally incapable of reversing the effects of an infection like this?" Twilight questioned suspiciously, Twilight had seen the level of cosmic power that Discord had displayed with his godlike abilities, she couldn't even fathom the concept of something that wasn't the Elements of Harmony somehow managing to surpass or rival his natural godlike abilities. "I wasn't convinced about it either, I thought he was doing his usual Discord move and trying to run away. But I saw it. I saw his claws snapping, I felt the wave of Chaos Magic that was released. I felt the cosmic power and nothing happened. Nothing." Fluttershy replied sternly, her eyes narrowed to display how serious she was being, Twilight shut her mouth before she attempted to retort and lowered her head to sigh softly at her accusations.
"Alright, well. Discord didn't get through the portal you went through, and he wouldn't send you away unless the situation was dire. So, what the hay happened in there?" Twilight asked, her eyes widened slightly at the thoughts that began surging throughout her mind that could cause Discord to cast Fluttershy out, Twilight studied Fluttershy's expression as she glanced to the side briefly only to slowly look back at Twilight with tears in her eyes. "We were attacked. Some...Some pony appeared, they had the structure of a mare, but they sounded like a stallion, and they were an Alicorn . They had long flowing red hair, like the Princesses! And the same kind of tail, but their eyes...They were gray, with glowing red irises and slit pupils like Nightmare Moon. And they had a black body, their fur was the colour of the night sky without stars! I didn't see their cutie mark, but I saw their magic. And it was strong enough to hurt Discord. I don't know what they were. But it wasn't natural, not with the level of magic they could use. Not when they managed to hurt Discord." Fluttershy explained, the description left Applejack and Twilight stunned at the impossible description of another kind of Alicorn existing elsewhere in Equestria or outside the known realm of Equestria itself, Twilight glanced to the side and mentally pondered whether she was the only Alicorn Celestia created.
"Another Alicorn? And a princess?...Or a prince. I guess? I suppose we've never wondered why only mares have ever become Alicorns. But still, another Alicorn?!" Applejack blurts out, she was still reeling from the fact that another unknown Alicorn was existing somewhere outside the realm of Equestria, Twilight on the other hoof was just trying to understand why Celestia would grant somepony that kind of Alicorn level dark magic. "And why do they have such dark power. I've never heard of an Alicorn like that, that isn't somehow tainted by dark magic. Sombra kinda sounds like that, but he was a unicorn. This pony, they sound much more dangerous, especially if they have the power to rival and injure something as powerful as Discord!" Twilight replied in concern, her eyes were narrowed as the level of danger that was resonating in their approaching future, she couldn't truly understand why, but something about the description of the Alicorn sounded unnaturally familiar. "I know! That's why I was so scared. I didn't want to leave him, I wanted to stay and keep him safe. I was hoping maybe my stare could work, but he kept saying to run. And then he opened a portal to send me here..." Fluttershy also replied with worry, she had hoped that Discord and herself could battle back this new foe only to be proven swiftly incorrect, part of her brain was hoping that Discord was somehow capable of escaping from the dark alicorn.
"Alright. Before we get over distracted, let's try and lessen the load. Ponyville is the main group for a massive sized outbreak, countless ponies are infected and the rest are in their homes, the infection rate is large and the time frame of infection seems to depend on the pony, Applejack said Apple Bloom was infected, and it sounds like she was only infected for a few minutes or hours before she turned, not to mention it only took four hours for Granny Smith to start turning, so I'm starting to get a clearer picture of this infection." Twilight explained with a sudden level of authority and confidence, then she turns and conjures herself a black board only to conjure a chalk piece so she could start writing down the various thoughts running through her mind. "I've noticed a few noticeable symptoms. I informed Celestia in my first letter to her after this started." Twilight continued explaining as she wrote down the various symptoms that she remembered cataloguing on the first letter, Applejack and Fluttershy were left in confused states of processing as they just watched Twilight mentally calculating her thoughts.
"Spike was the best subject I had, he was one of the first creatures I noticed that began acting...Abnormal, he was suddenly more aggressive than usual, even more so than when he began transforming into a larger dragon, then he began experiencing rapid mood swings, he'd suddenly switch from angry to sad to happy, even for a baby dragon that's handling hormones...Even I noticed it was weird." Twilight resumed her surprisingly detailed explanation, her eyes darting around the board to fix any issues or errors that she made in her writing, then she placed the chalk down onto the nearby table as her horn lost the aura of magic she was using. "Strange wetness that formed in his eyes, kinda like irritation from dust, but nothing seemed to be causing it. His bodily temperature began skyrocketing. I mean he's usually pretty hot because of his dragon physiology, but he was overly hot whenever I felt his scales. Speaking of scales, just like ponies, like me. He began losing his scales, they just started as one and two, then he began losing five, until eventually it seemed like he was molting, then...Something supernatural happened." Twilight resumed her almost bizarre description of Spike's supernatural affliction, Fluttershy and Applejack noticed that Twilight's demeanour began to rapidly deteriorate as she finished.
"He just...Shut down, and then I noticed some...Horrific growths on his back, they kinda looked like warts, but they were completely black. And the veins. Oh Celestia. The veins...They looked like black lines on his skin! They didn't look normal. The growths seemed like some kind of consequence of his draconic heritage because nopony I've seen that's gotten to this stage of infection has suffered anything similar, I think...It's causing his body to rapidly accelerate, so he's trying to grow wings." Twilight said to finish her explanation, Applejack and Fluttershy were left stunned at the mere concept of some infection causing Spike to begin rapidly aging whether biologically or psychologically, Fluttershy looks to the side hoping to think of a virus or infection capable of such things. "And that isn't even the weirdest thing. Spike scratched me about an hour or two ago, and it started causing my body to deteriorate. Vinegar helped in negating it temporarily, so I tried using my magic to combat the infection. And when my magic connected with the infection point. I felt pure evil. Malice. Hatred . Feelings that shot through my mind like ocean water. And then, I felt a voice screaming out like a stallion. Until it all stopped and I disconnected myself. In those few seconds. I felt Dark Magic inside me. Powerful. Ancient." Twilight said with her eyes aching from fear, Applejack and Fluttershy were suffering from much the same until the trio was startled by something only describable as a fiery explosion out in the hall, the trio glanced towards the door where they could hear something skittering and approaching the room rapidly.
Celestia descends from above, she lands beside her sister who was glancing down at the grouping of ponies that had begun forming after Luna used her Royal Canterlot Voice to call them, Celestia steps up to the edge of the royal balcony to gaze down upon her subjects with narrowed eyes. "Hopefully, this many ponies will be enough to help in spreading the word if nopony hears me when I'm giving the speech, so I'd suggest covering your ears so you don't accidentally lose your hearing" Celestia advised, her eyes briefly glancing towards Luna who nodded and conjured herself a pair of earmuffs which she placed onto her ears to nullify the sound passing through her eardrums, Celestia on the other hand turns back towards the balcony and slammed her hoofs down onto the concrete beneath her. "PONIES OF CANTERLOT! HEAR ME!" Celestia boomed, her Royal Canterlot Voice echoed throughout the streets of Canterlot with incredible authority and power, her eyes momentarily beginning to glow with dazzling regal power as she unfurled her wings and ascends into the sky above.
"I have summoned you, all of you! To hear me, Equestria is in danger, an infection, a sickness has been discovered. We must instil an immediate quarantine across Canterlot, return to your homes immediately and use your radios to become aware of any further information we might have to give." Celestia commanded, her voice had lost much of its former boom but still retained her stern regal authority, the mass of ponies beneath her were left confused until her wings expanded fully to display her authority. "RETURN! Now." Celestia simply commanded, the order took only a moment to be understood and followed by the mass of ponies, hundreds of stallions, mares, fillies, colts and other ponies rushed away to their homes without a second thought. "Good. Be safe my little ponies." Celestia whispered, then she turns back towards the balcony and descends onto the pristine concrete yet again, Luna dispelled her earmuffs and gallops up to her sister who still seemed saddened. "It will be okay, big sister, with the help of Twilight Sparkle and the power of the Canterlot medical team, we will combat this ailment." Luna offered with a supportive smile, the comment made Celestia nod weakly as she attempted to convince herself that this affliction would be or could be undone with the workings of magic and science.
"You're right. Perhaps I've been spending too much time worrying. We have battled many evils together, this is nothing but another inconvenience." Luna commented, hoping her words would instil some kind of confidence or determination in Celestia, Celestia glanced down to the ground with her eyes narrowed, then she glanced back towards the edge of the balcony with her eyes glimmering. "I hope you are correct, because I am beginning to fear that this time. We might not be getting out of this so easily, we've always won our previous battles because we had help, we had the Elements of Harmony to battle against Discord, then without those. We needed the full might of our Alicorn Magic to battle back Sombra. And then. Sombra's dark influence corrupted you my dear sister, and I needed to battle you away WITH the Elements yet again. And now, we don't have the Elements..." Celestia hopelessly replied, her eyes lowered towards the ground as her confidence began to burn away like water exposed to the sun, Luna walks up beside her sister and unfurls her wings to wrap her left wing around Celestia's back.
"Tia, we don't need the Elements. They're not the source of Harmonic Magic, you know this. They're the conduits, we held their Magic, and now Twilight wields it inside herself just as her friends do." Luna observed, she had studied the Elements prior to her banishment, of course during those days, she had hoped to corrupt them and their harmonic power but now she could understand their capabilities. "Starswirl taught us that the Elements are forged with love and friendship, this infection. It is just a parasite, we're going to stop it, we're going to destroy it and we're going to save our kingdom." Luna ordered, her words were stern yet loving, she narrowed her eyes as Celestia turned to glance at the midnight coloured alicorn beside her, Celestia couldn't help the smile that slowly crept onto her features from the advice and confident speech that Luna had given. "You're right. No point dwelling on the past, we have a kingdom to save, besides. Perhaps Twilight has already figured something out? We haven't heard from her in a short while" Celestia noticed, she hadn't actually realized that her letter to Twilight had been sent hours ago, she had only just realized that the letter being sent would've been answered within only a few minutes considering how by the book Celestia had known Twilight to be.
"I'm sure she's just tending to the ponies in Ponyville, she's probably so busy that she didn't even realized a letter was sent, or she did realize and just hasn't had time to read and respond yet" Luna chuckled, she had known Twilight to be very obsessive and overzealous when it came to certain or most topics, she had already accepted the theory that Twilight was merely distracted with caring for the ponies of the small village. "You're right, I'm probably just being overly concerned, Twilight is one of the most capable ponies I've known, I suppose I've still been holding her too close. Trying to keep her safe even when I've been letting her live her life properly, I guess I still need to move past that kind of terror." Celestia sighed, she had already begun establishing to herself that she had been holding Twilight too close, especially after making Twilight send her letters for the past few years up until she ascended into an Alicorn, she had already feared her actions left Twilight stunted and yet she still couldn't deny that Twilight was better now.
"Of course I'm right, I'm your sister, it's my job to notice these things." Luna replied, she smiled in response as she watched Celestia unfurling her own wings, Luna instinctively pulled her wing away to allow Celestia's wing to extent outwards with Celestia's newly enflamed determination. "Then it's time to stop forcing Twilight and her friends to do these things, we've been making them do it long enough, they've more than proven their capabilities. Now it's time we do the same." Celestia commanded, her voiced boomed through the air with confidence, Luna was momentarily proud but felt her adoration slowly being overtaken by an unexplainable dread slowly beginning to spread down her spine, Luna glanced around at the surroundings for answers only for a scarlet burst of magic to shoot her down to the ground. "What?! Sister!" Celestia shrieked, she galloped beside the hurt but conscious Night Princess, Luna could only groan from the unfamiliar sense of burning pain, Celestia glanced at Luna's side which was burnt from powerful fiery magic that she was unfamiliar with.
"How pitiful. I expected better from the great Princess Luna, I mean, she was transformed into Nightmare Moon? The mare who wanted to drag Equestria into eternal darkness?" A voice mocked, the voice was deep yet soft as it mocked the power and capability of Luna, Celestia growled in response and turned to face the magical menace but felt her own blood freeze when she gazed upon the attacker. "What...No...You..." Celestia stuttered, she had always heard stories of Alicorns elsewhere in Equestria, but she had known only ponies who can be granted the magic of Earth Pony, Pegasi and Unicorn could ascend, yet she stared into the eyes of an Alicorn Prince standing before her. "You? I what? I can't exist? I can't be real?" The Alicorn mocked yet again, his eyes were wide with madness, his teeth were sharpened spikes in his gums, and his royal attire was carved from the same kind of gold as Celestia herself, but the gems that were placed inside were not like any ruby she had ever seen present in Equestria.
"What...What are you..." Celestia blurted out, her eyes were wide and vibrating from the fear that was wracking through her body, she had never truly seen into the eyes of the impossible, even after facing the cosmic power of Discord or the magical draining properties of Tirek, but this Alicorn was truly impossible. "Me? I'm an Alicorn. An Alicorn King . And I'm going to deeply enjoy this one little Sun Princess." The Alicorn chuckled, his shadow black horn was shrouded with a crimson red aura of great magic, his eyes began to glow with the same level of dark and malevolent power that left Celestia stepping away. "No...No Alicorns should exist aside from me, my sister and the others...How are you...Who are you?!" Celestia blurted out yet again, her eyes began to glimmer with solar magic, but her horn was incapable of sustaining any spell while she was so terrified at the impossible yet very real Alicorn Prince that was standing before her with his horn blazing with unknowably dark magic. "Me? I'm someone you left behind. Somebody who you tried to push under the cosmic rug. And now? I'm taking some revenge for my home. And you can call me. Death Rose ." The Darker Alicorn replied, his eyes narrowed from sadistic glee at the level of fear he could practically taste from the horrified White Alicorn, her eyes grew wider when she heard the words he spoke then she saw nothing but black after yet another powerful burst of scarlet magic.
"Twilight, what is that?..." Fluttershy whispered, she heard the skittering as it approached the library, only for Applejack to charge forward in hopes of kicking the doors closed however she was stopped by Spike colliding with the door, Applejack was knocked backwards as Spike crawled into the room. "Oh...My...God..." Twilight uttered, she was gazing upon Spike, Spike looked mostly the same, but his teeth jagged and sharp with his green scales sharpened like spines protruding from his back, but the most alarming thing was the thick black liquid pouring from his eyes like tears. "What in tarnation?! What is that?!" Applejack cried out, she pulled herself back onto her hooves as she looked upon the seemingly demonified variation of Spike standing on his hands and feet in the doorway, she had seen critters somehow sickened by some awful infection but she had never seen something affecting a Dragon so badly. "Spike! Oh my god...Spike..." Twilight cried out, she had never hoped to gaze upon the form of Spike before she had found a way to cure him, but here she was standing, her former number one assistant tainted and corrupted by whatever horrific infection was spreading and tarnishing Ponyville.
"Twi...Light...Twilight...Sparkle..." Spike whispered through a strained voice, the words sounded more like some cheap imitation of Spike instead of the real Spike, Twilight had known and heard Spike enough to understand that the voice was not natural and some form of imitation by the monster before her. "Spike?...Are you in there?" Twilight begged, she was hoping beyond a pipe dream that Spike was still somehow present inside his body, that he was screaming out for her help and not just some deceased vessel the parasitic infection was using as a puppet. "Heard. You. Saw. Her. Felt. Discord." Spike emotionlessly replied, the two voids present in his eyes turned to glance at Fluttershy, the yellow Pegasus yelped and stepped back to avoid somehow angering the monster wearing Spike's skin, Spike just let out a strained breath as he crawled further into the room. "Princess. Twilight. Element. Of. Magic." Spike whispered, his eyes remained empty and black, yet she noticed a faint almost unnoticeable glimmer of some red present in the 'center' of Spike's completely black eyes. "You're not Spike, are you? You're something else. But you can talk, can't you?" Twilight asked, she was hoping that imitating confidence would make the parasite pause its infective desire for spread to answer or at least humour her question.
"You're obviously capable, otherwise you wouldn't be talking using Spike's voice." Twilight snarled, her anger and grief overtaking her thoughts, the anger was however sufficient in making Spike pause almost frightened until his body began to jolt and twitch as he raised himself back onto his taloned feet. "If. You. Want." Spike whispered, his empty black eyes seemed to suck the dark liquid back up like some kind of mystical vacuum, then his eyes began to glow with a blinding scarlet hue that was covered when Spike shut his eyes. "S-Spike?..." Fluttershy questioned, her body shaking from fear as Spike remained silent and motionless, then his eyes reopened, his eyes had returned to normal, however his irises were now red instead of their ordinary green. "Close. I'm not Spike, he's here. Conscious. Kinda." Spike replied, his voice was completely replaced by a hollow raspy variant of itself, it sounded like some kind of monster imitating Spike's voice through a voice recorder. "Who are you. What are you. And why are you doing this." Twilight ordered, her voice was no longer scared, she was fuming and burning with hatred towards the monster that had done nothing but steal away her friends, and steal away the one thing she could possibly consider her son.
"My name, is Death, Death Rose to be specific. And I...Well, I'm an Alicorn , like you Princess. Just a little more powerful than you can believe. And why? Well, you're not the only one with a bone to pick with Celestia and Luna." Spike growled, his voice was enraged, fuming with the anger of something ancient that had occurred long before Spike or Twilight had ever walked Equestria in the first place. "Alright, 'Death Rose'. How are you an Alicorn, if you really are." Twilight questioned, she was reeling from the reality that another Alicorn did exist in Equestria, but her anger was doing wonders in hiding the level of horrified shock that Celestia had never chosen to mention that not only did another Alicorn exist, he was a damn psychopath who was corrupting everything she held dear to her heart. "Magic, my dear girl. Is a powerful thing, I've studied it, I spent centuries studying it. Nearly a thousand years. Harnessing. Perfecting, and moulding my dark power. To counter the 'Magic of Friendship' and the magic of the princesses." Spike chuckled, his eyes narrowed from confidence as he watched Twilight's expression shift from rage, to confusion, to horror at the implications of her status being forged solely from magic.
"That's right, Alicorns aren't special. None of us are, you're just holding more magic than others. Starlight Glimmer, she's stronger than you, even with the Element of Magic. But she can't reach Alicorn rank without being given some pretty flappers and some extra strength, and some plant magic." Spike snarled, the Alicorn holding his mind hostage could gaze through his memories of Starlight Glimmer's immense magical power, Death Rose had never truly seen such capabilities in a unicorn since the days of Starswirl. "No...You're wrong! You...You lie!" Twilight replied, she was trying to hold onto hope that her status as Alicorn was true and not just some deceitful lie crafted by Celestia in order to harness the status of ruler over the entirety of Equestrian borders. "I can, and I do lie, but not of this. Believe me, I was just as shocked when I learned of it. I truly thought that royalty, that Alicorns were special. But no. They're nothing. Just glorified amalgamations." Spike responded, his voice was cold as he countered Twilight's desperate attempted to hold onto the hope, Twilight was left staring down at her own hooves in horror after discovering everything she had believed was nothing but a lie.
"You unlocked Alicornhood through earning it, finishing Starswirl's Destiny Swap spell. A touch of friendship and you did something Starswirl was too stupid to accomplish, isn't that impressive. But I didn't have that luxury, I was just an ordinary unicorn, I had magic talent, I could've been you. Just, you know, much older. but I lost that chance." Spike snarled, this time he seemed wrathful towards whatever memories he had begun remembering, whatever Death Rose was referencing had left him deeply scarred. "You, what? What do ya mean, could've been Twi? Nopony can be Twi, even Sunset learned that the hard way." Applejack countered, she had never believed anypony else could surpass or rival Twilight in terms of magical talent, Starlight managing to do so was more of an unbelievable revelation, but that was modern day magic, this pony must've been around since the oldest days of Celestia and Luna's rule. "When I was a filly, I had a village. Everypony was happy. Everypony helped the community however they could. Earth Ponies grew crops, Pegasi gave the necessary weather to help the crops and helped transport things, the Unicorns used their dazzling magic to heal the sick and craft unbelievable things. It was perfect. My home was a perfect joyful machine. Until the consequences of Celestia and Luna came to haunt us." Spike growled, the recollection of the memories left Death Rose growling within the regions of Spike's conscious mind, then he cleared his throat and glanced towards Applejack who narrowed her eyes.
"You see, the land that would become Equestria. It wasn't pony land, it was owned by various species, other species. Chimera, Manticore, Cockatrice, Bugbear, and various others. When ponies came, they took over the land and pushed those species out. Those species didn't forget such things." Spike snarled, Applejack and Twilight were left pondering then they both gasped at the implications of Death Rose losing his village and swearing revenge on the princesses for the loss of his home and more than likely his own family. "The species, they found our village, they wanted to know where the princesses were. When we couldn't offer the answer, they...They burned it down, they slaughtered my people. All that I remember from the carnage is blood, screams and fire. I only survived because they got off their lazy asses and decided to help." Spike continued, his eyes glancing to the side as he growled in rage, Death Rose could feel his hatred beginning to rapidly resurface as he recalled the events that had inevitably led him up to the stage of wanting absolute revenge.
"Hey! The princesses aren't lazy! They're just..." Fluttershy stopped herself, she could see the rage burning in Spike's glowing eyes, that was enough to make her freeze up and slowly descend back to the ground in a heap of nerves and terror that couldn't handle the events transpiring. "They arrived in my village too late, my people were gone. I barely survived myself. I was half dead from fear and the smoke clouding up my lungs. Wanna know what they told me? They said it was an accident. They never intended for other villages to suffer, that I would be justified in getting royal assistance to put my life back together." Spike growled, his hands clenching into fists until he felt the tips of his claws stabbing against the palms of his hand, Spike hissed in response to the pain and loosened his grip until he glanced at Twilight who was just staring at him in horror.
"I didn't want any fucking help. I didn't care about getting any stupid assistance from those regal shitbags. I wanted justice for the innocents that got slaughtered, every mare, stallion, filly. Even foals. Those bastards slaughtered innocent foals. My own cousin, he wasn't even a week old and they thought I would just accept that stupid shitty help?!" Spike raged, Death Rose had finally lost control as Spike grabbed the sides of his head, Spike growled softly as he stumbled back then he began growling louder, Spike dashed forwards to try and tackle Twilight. "TWILIGHT!" Applejack screamed, she attempted to gallop towards Twilight to try and get Twilight out of the way, but Spike charged towards with speed that he had never wielded previously, Twilight's horror left her frozen in fear as Spike dashed towards her.
"NO!" A voice screamed, the voice was followed by a flash of pink light shooting through the library forcing Applejack and Fluttershy to look away, Twilight's eyes were filled with enough tears that the light was unable to cause any true damage to her vision as she sobbed quietly. "I...Oh my..." Twilight cried, she could feel her own thoughts burning away with each sob, but she found the strength to lift her forehooves up to her face and wipes away the tears that was flooding her eyes. "Are you okay?" The voice asked, Twilight glanced towards the sound she heard it emerge, and noticed a stallion standing in the doorway of the library, his fur was milky white and his mane was bright red, his horn was coated in a pink aura that matched the colour of his eyes. "What the...Who...?" Twilight questioned, her voice broke during her question but the stallion chuckled in response, Twilight took notice that the stallion had the physical stature of a mare, he was also wearing a long crimson coloured cloak that covered his back and flank.
"My name is Omega, Omega Scarlet, and I received the message that I should come here to avoid infection. I guess that was a little prematurely spoken I guess?" Omega chuckled, the comment made Twilight glance towards Spike, Spike was frozen in place, the spell that Omega had used somehow generated a perfect cuboid shaped crystal form around Spike that contained him and the infection possessing him. "Yeah, sorry about that. I needed to keep him contained, there's a whole ton of explaining to be done, but we should probably deal with the infected dragon before my spell wears off and Death Rose can break that thing open." Omega stated, the comment made Twilight sniffle but nod in confirmation, then she glanced towards Fluttershy and Applejack who were trying to wipe the shapes and colours out from their vision. "Applejack. Fluttershy, stay here and watch for anypony else, I'll go with...Omega, and put Spike back into the basement, hopefully he'll stay there this time." Twilight ordered, Applejack and Fluttershy just nodded in approval, then she turns to the cube and lifts it off the ground with her magic, Twilight approached Omega who stepped out from the room to allow Twilight passage until they could both begin heading down the hall in silence.
"BEGONE CREATURE OF THE NIGHT!" Luna shrieked, a burst of lunar magic shooting through the air, the greyish blue bolt of magic crashed into a similarly sized bolt of scarlet tinted magic, Death Rose stood opposite to Luna with his eyes narrowed, Death Rose bared his teeth and growled softly. "Such a disappointment. The younger sister does more." Death Rose commented, his eyes glimmered with delight as Celestia pulled herself back onto her hooves, the white Alicorn groaned softly as blood seeped down from her head, Luna galloped infront of her sister and glares towards the malevolent Alicorn Prince with her horn blazing. "You will not hurt my sister! Vile beast." Luna replied, her eyes began to shimmer with dazzling lunar power, the energies of the Moon were radiating through her body as she leans forward, Death Rose cackled as Luna's horn crackled with mystical power. "Aww, the Night Princess is trying to be threatening. How cute ." Death Rose mocked, his slit pupils shrunk as he chuckled, Luna gasped at the comment and growled softly from the rage burning in her heart, Luna extended her wings and rapidly ascended into the sky allowing her divine power to immediately increase.
"I am Princess Luna, Princess of the Night, Mistress of the Dark. And you will TREMBLE before its might!" Luna commanded, her eyes momentarily flashed a blinding white, then she directs her head down until her horn was pointing directly at Death Rose. "Alright, show me how skilled you are with Dark Magic ." Death Rose responded, his horn was blazing with scarlet might, both Alicorns unleashed their own beam of magic that collided in the air between them both, the air was flooded with a shine of red and blue from the collision. "BEGONE! I am the Mistress of the Night! You will NOT best me! I will not allow it!" Luna ordered, her eyes began glowing white yet again, her eyes narrowed as Death Rose chuckled softly, Luna felt her horn beginning to ache from the strain of upholding such a powerful and draining force of magical prowess. "You forget. You are Princess of Night, I'm not the Prince of Night. I'm the Prince of the Darkness ." Death Rose simply replied, Luna was left in momentary confusion until she felt a force of physical strength wrap around her back legs, Luna cried out as she was ripped from the air and crashed into the ground with the colliding beams dissipating instantly.
"W-what in...Equestria?..." Luna dizzily questioned, Luna glanced around but froze when she noticed her own shadow, the dark imitation of herself was pulling itself free of its non-existent shackles and standing before her on its hooves, Luna could faintly see through the shadow but it remained present. "Do you like them? I call them Umbrum. Shadow Ponies, they're crafted from the shadows of others. Unfortunately, I can't just make Umbrum, I need shadows to corrupt and infest like a disease. Kinda ironic, don't you think?" Death Rose commented, his eyes narrowed then his horn began to blaze with scarlet magic once again, Death Rose began approaching the tired and drained midnight blue Alicorn laying against the concrete with strained eyes. "I truly expected better, your sister went down fast. But you put up a fight. How heart-breaking that my revenge was so short li-" Death Rose stated, but he was cut off by a beam of solar magic striking his face, Death Rose screamed out as he was rapidly pushed backwards by the fiery yellow beam of sun magic.
"ENOUGH!" Death Rose shrieked, his horn blazed out with his scarlet magic to push the solar beam away, Celestia stood with fiery orange eyes glowing with the fuming power of the sun itself, Death Rose chuckled softly at the royal display of solar power. "Step away from her. Vile creature. I will not allow you to wrought anymore chaos and destruction." Celestia ordered, her horn was beginning to slightly tint yellow at the tint with her magical aura growing more intense, Death Rose was panting softly, then he grinned whilst chuckling at the display of power. "Alright. I'm gonna admit, I didn't see that coming. Maybe I should've expected a little more bite from you." Death Rose stated, his horn was blazed with magic until he dispelled his combative spell to stand up straight, Celestia held her wings out as she glares at the shadowy Alicorn with narrowed but still glowing eyes. "Who. Are. You. And why are you here." Celestia inquired, her voice was stern but softened, her eyes glanced back to look at Luna who was slowly pushing herself back up onto her shaky and cracked hooves, Death Rose just chuckled softly at Celestia's question.
"Who am I? Why am I here?! Are you fucking kidding me!? You don't even remember me?! You're the reason my village was destroyed! You're the reason my family was murdered ! And you just forgot?!" Death Rose snarled, his eyes began glowing bright scarlet as he glared towards the White Alicorn, Celestia was left stunned in surprise at unbelievably intense outburst that was enacted by Death Rose from some unspecified amount of emotional baggage. "You...You think I know you?" Celestia inquired, some of her recent fury was extinguished once she asked the question for answers, the question only made Death Rose scowl in unbelievably intense variations of pure rage, Death Rose let out a guttural shriek of pure rage at Celestia's comment. "DO I THINK YOU KNOW ME?! Are you FUCKING kidding me!? You came to my village, over a thousand years ago. Before Sombra was banished and after Discord was petrified. I once lived in that village. The village of the Snow Keepers." Death Rose growled, his rage was slowly growing more and more intense with every passing moment, each time Celestia proved her lack of knowledge of lack of caring to remember only added more fuel to Death Rose's burning hatred.
"The Snow Keepers?...Oh my...You were the little unicorn colt..." Celestia whispered, her eyes widened as her horn slowly reverts itself away from its former blazing power, her eyes followed with this depowering as the ordinary glow began to rapidly dissipate until it was gone entirely. "I wasn't just some unicorn colt. I was the possible student who might've one day proven myself worthy of being in your stupid magic school ." Death Rose stated coldly, he had already given up any hope that he'd ever try being enrolled into Celestia's magic school after his village was tarnished, then he unfurled his wings with his eyes growing even more narrow. "Perhaps, but I would never allow someone with this kind of evil to enroll in my school. Twilight was given the chance because I saw her talent and the good in her heart. I wouldn't do the same for you because all you have is hatred and malice in your own heart." Celestia stated coldly, she had already seen this kind of hatred and hypocrisy throughout her millennia of life in Equestria, then she forces her horn to start glowing with dazzling yellow magic. "I would never join the school of somebody as pitiful as you." Death Rose chuckled, his own horn began to blaze with scarlet magic that was emitting sparks of unstable dark magic from the tip of his horn, then he leans forward and grins from purely sadistic glee, Celestia flaps her wings then she shot out a beam of solar magic which was countered by a scarlet beam from Death Rose.
"So, how are you doing Applejack?" Fluttershy questioned, she glanced towards the orange earth pony with her eyes glistening, she held a mug of warm coffee in her hooves that she began to sip from as Applejack turned towards her with worried but still compassionate eyes. "Am alright, just worried about Twi and that new stallion. I can understand why she'd trust him, he's certainly proven himself magically capable. I just worry that this new stallion isn't exactly bein' totally honest with us." Applejack confessed, she was hopeful that the white stallion had arrived to help them with the outbreak but she couldn't deny her suspicion, she had experienced other creatures trying to show themselves as good creatures until they were revealed to be some kind of enemy.
"I suppose I can understand that, but I have hope that he's here to help us, it just feels right" Fluttershy responded warmly, her voice was low but remained soft as she answered Applejack's reply, she had been suspecting similar beliefs after she had been face to somewhat face of the Dark Alicorn that invaded the Chaos Dimension. "I'm beginnin' to hope you're right, because we're runnin' out of options in this fight, because we're really running out of options for allies. Especially after Discord disappeared, do you know where he is?" Applejack wondered, she was hoping that Fluttershy might've somehow remembered what might've happened to Discord after he and the Dark Alicorn disappeared from the Chaos Dimension or somehow remained there.
"Unfortunately, I don't know...I've been worried since I was sent here, it's been hours since I was sent here and he hasn't appeared. I was hoping that somehow he might've returned." Fluttershy confessed, she was hoping that Discord would've come to get her or at least returned to show he was okay, but his complete disappearance and continued lack of revealing himself was only making her fear that he might've genuinely suffered the worst. "Well, he's the embodiment of Chaos, that ain't somethin' that some prideful Alicorn can undo or destroy." Applejack stated, she was confident that not even the Elements of Harmony had the power to truly and absolutely destroy a being as cosmically powerful as Discord, even when powered by herself and her other friends while using them.
"I like to think that, it makes me feel better. It really makes me have hope that he's okay" Fluttershy replied, the comment from Applejack helped instil some extra confidence into her heavily fractured mind, she didn't want to admit it, but she had begun losing her hope in Discord's continued survival. "Well, hold onto that hope, cuz it might not be the worst idea you'll have, hope is a powerful thing, honestly. I'm surprised it isn't one of the Elements of Harmony" Applejack chuckled, she had already believed there were more components to sustaining harmony and friendship, but she had always assumed those components would become essential or otherwise important sometime in the future that involved them or the Elements themselves.
"You're right, I should have hope in Discord, it's not surprising that he'd be experiencing something like this" Fluttershy responded, she was glancing into the warm brown liquid swirling around in her mug, then she glanced towards the large glass window resting on the back wall of the library. "Knowing Discord, he's probably just pulling himself back together, in the literal sense, he does have the capacity to do so" Fluttershy reminded, she had already watched Discord repeatedly take himself apart in ways normally fatal, she had already predicted that his immortality was just as absolute as with the princesses but she could still feel her belief fading with each passing second.
"I suppose I should be fortunate, being in the presence of PRINCESS Twilight Sparkle! It's unbelievable! You're legendary in the places I've been!" Omega gasped, his eyes flashed with joy as he trots throughout the halls, Twilight was just glancing towards the crystallized Spike that was levitating behind her, she could feel the strain in her already chipped horn from the magic she was using to sustain the spell. "I'm sure it's revelational, but can you not be so damn weird about it." Twilight ordered, she was desiring silence so she could grief the potential demise of Spike after such an awful transformation, Omega took notice of Twilight's annoyance so he shut his mouth and glanced to the side to try and suppress some of his excitement.
"Right, sorry. I'm still getting use to all this, I know how it feels to experience all this unwanted attention, so I'll try and tone it down." Omega replied, he was hoping the apology would be enough to try and satiate the amount of emotional exhaustion that Twilight must've been feeling after all the madness that had happened, then he glanced back towards the crystalline cube containing Spike's body in perfect stasis. "Spike'll be alright, the crystal stasis I used will completely petrify his body, he's pretty much frozen in time, not a single part of his body is active, not blood, cells, or even his own beating heart, he's in perfect mystical stasis." Omega confessed, he had worked on the Crystal Stasis for years, so he was able to tweak and perfect the inner workings of the spell in order to work the thing perfectly, he was hoping that Dragons were also vulnerable to the workings of the spell like ponies were.
"You trapped him? Isn't that dangerous? Like...Wouldn't that risk his own death?..." Twilight inquired, she had studied the inner workings of biological entities, so she knew that a steady pumping of blood and oxygen was essential in the continued survival of living creatures otherwise they would inevitably expire. "No, that's if he was still functional, my mystical prison is like a time pause, his body is frozen in the same state it was in before the spell was cast, so he's just as alive as he was then. And he is alive, this infection. It isn't fatal for Dragons, but I've never seen it become something like a secondary consciousness" Omega expressed, he had never seen an infected individual showing such higher degrees of mental faculties, he'd only ever seen the infected managing to mimic the actions and ideals of the individual that was originally infected.
"Secondary consciousness? You've seen others who've expressed this kind of...Parasitic infestation of an entity. It spoke to me, told me its name is Death Rose and then it just attacked." Twilight confessed, she had not really properly given herself chance or time to comprehend the situation, she could feel her pulse beginning to increase once she began processing the situation that had occurred only a few minutes previously. "Spike attacked me because of something else possessing his body..." Twilight observed, she had only just processed that Spike's bizarre actions were resulting from a dual consciousness inhabiting his body, she had only begun realizing such an impossible to avoid or ignore inevitable reality that was existing before her.
The air of the outskirts of Ponyville was quiet, gentle breezing brushed past the cold and vacant streets of the small town, the air was quiet and yet there was still the faint sound of something dragging across the dirt pathways leading around the various buildings, the town was quiet as a golden coloured unicorn stepped out and moaned softly. "Beauty..." The pony whispered, their skin was a pale golden hue with no visible fur remaining, their eyes were glazed and pale blue with infrequent blinking, their wings lay worthless against their back, limp and rubbery with age and muscle decay from lack of usage or sufficient biological components.
"Ugh, disgusting." A voice gagged, the comment was followed by a powerful burst of volatile magic, the burst crashed into the corrupted Pegasus causing their head to splatter across the dirt like golden paste, the unicorn steps out into clearer view with narrowed lilac eyes. "Ugh, fucking monsters. We can't have a day in Equestria without something weird or devastating happening." The unicorn whined, their horn was blazing with violet Magic, then they glanced towards their unusual accomplice, the other figure beside them, this figure was shaped wildly, tall with the paws of a feline, and long hair similar to that of a pony.
"You rage to these beings, unnecessary emotional turmoil, they are merely corrupted by something rendering their hosts lifeless. Do not disrespect the deceased." The female Draconequus stated, her hair was pushed back to reveal the two curved horns protruding from the top of her head, then she leans down to wipe some of the golden paste off the dirt so she could examine it. "Maybe if you'd explain more than just 'things are bad' then maybe this would be much easier. Seriously! Would you PLEASE elaborate further! I can't help if you won't explain this to me, Zephyr" The unicorn growled, their eyes narrowed as they watched Zephyr glance to the side, her golden eyes shifted as she thought of her next words, then she sighed and turns to the unicorn.
"Aniya, these beings are corrupted by a very volatile Magic, ancient in origin, and unknown to me. I cannot undo the spell that was cast until I can figure out what the spell actually was." Zephyr revealed, she had never seen such malevolent forms of Magic, not even Dark Magic itself had shown itself to be so damn evil, and she had seen the extreme potential of both Dark Magic and Chaos Magic. "So this is unknown to you. Surely your Draconequus Magic can undo it, I thought all Draconequus had some innate Magic that all of them can use" Aniya commented, she'd heard various stories about the legendary Draconequus, but she'd never truly seen one using its Magic before, so seeing Zephyr not using her own just made Aniya frown.
"No, those are just stories. All Draconequus have unique Magic, we're all personifications of various Magic types, now. We have very little time, it will not be long before we start getting hunted down by more of these...Things." Zephyr commented, she was trying to not insult those that had been infected, but she found herself struggling to comment on them without subconsciously bringing up how much their golden bodies were making her uncomfortable. "Right, well. Where are we going now then?" Aniya asked, she glanced into her eyes, then the both of them began trotting towards the large crystalline castle of Princess Twilight Sparkle, this was swiftly followed by Zephyr snapping her pawed fingers, the both of them were converted into clouds that began ascending into the sky after formation.
Author's Note
I'm back!
Also! For anybody wondering what I had in mind for Zephyr, here is a link that shows her physical form better than I could describe:https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/2319654-safe-artistgigason-oc-oc-only-draconequus-hybrid-pony-high-res-interspecies-offspring-offspring--300967187607949955/
"Why are you doing this?! You can't blame us for what happened! We were just trying to make up for consequences we could've never seen COMING!" Celestia raged, her horn blazed with solar energy, the power of the sun was resonating from deep within her mystical core, her heart pulsed within her chest as she glares towards the malevolent Alicorn prince standing before her, his eyes were glowing brighter red from his anger. "Oh spare me with that. You and your bitch of a sister knew exactly what you were doing. The same thing all you royals do. You make decisions that seemingly benefit your subjects, and then damn everyone else simply because you can't think ahead." Death Rose scoffed, his horn was enveloped with a cloud of sparkling red magic, his eyes narrowed, then his slit pupils began to contract from his mind suddenly becoming sparked with yet another wave of sadistic glee.
"We didn't do this willingly! You forced us to be like this! We wanted to make up for what we caused in the past. With Sombra. With...With him " Celestia confessed, she didn't enjoy thinking about the consequences she and her sister had caused, she disliked the memories that followed each time she recalled the many villains and attempted takeovers they'd experienced during the early days of their reign. "Yes, why would you bother accepting any responsibility for what you did. And then, and only then. When you're one of us. Will you finally understand." Death Rose snarled, his comment stabbed through Celestia like the sharpened tip of a spear, she felt her eyes beginning to widen whilst stepping away from the corrupted Alicorn, she immediately took notice that his magic was shifting from deep red, to a glittering gold.
"What are you doing...?!" Celestia panicked, she stepped away once she began comparing the corruptively golden magic with the notes she'd been sent by Twilight, then she recalled the alleged existence of Miss Fortune's make up line, everything began piecing itself into place. "Oh sweet Celestia. I'm doing something that should've been done centuries ago. I'm freeing Equestria from your rule." Death Rose stated, he pulled his head back, then he thrusts his head forward to release a beam of glittery golden magic straight at Celestia, Tia was left stunned in shock as the beam flew towards her but gasped once she noticed a midnight blue coloured pony diving in the way. "NO! SISTER!" Luna cried out, her wings shot open to block her sister from being struck, then she crashed to the ground with the golden magic slowly spreading out from her chest, the sight left Death Rose frozen in surprise.
"This...This was unintended. She wasn't...She...Wasn't my target..." Death Rose muttered, his eyes widening as he stepped backwards, his hooves clattering against the ground, with the shoes he wore denting from the force of his slamming, he hadn't planned for Luna to be taken first, so he was unsure how to proceed. "Luna! My sister! Sister please...Sister...Wake up..." Celestia pleaded, she leant beside the unconscious form of Princess Luna, the midnight blue tinted Alicorn was laying on her back, with a golden material slowly spreading across her chest and ejecting her fur off her body with speed and malicious hunger. "Luna please...My dearest sister...Come back to me...Wake up..." Celestia begged, her eyes were dripping with tears as she looks into Luna's lifeless eyes, the light that had formerly been present prior to being afflicted with the infection had completely ceased, with this light no longer visible, Celestia could only wonder on whether Luna was gone or not.
"This was unintended. But I suppose an Alicorn is an Alicorn. Twilight suppressed her infection. For now, and I cannot yet breach the Crystal Empire. But soon enough, I will take away everything you hold dear." Death Rose chuckled, his eyes narrowed in entertainment as he watched Luna slowly being consumed by the toxic affliction, he could see her fur as it was being transformed into the same golden hue as the various others that cane before her. "Sister...No...How could you. HOW COULD YOU?! HOW DOES THIS MAKE THINGS ANY BETTER?!" Celestia sobbed, she had turned to attention back towards the shadowy Alicorn, she watched him stepping backwards, either from fear, or from surprise, she wasn't entirely sure, but she felt her determination being spurred onwards, so she stood up. "You want payback on us?! Fine! Then take us to court or something! Don't endanger the entire COUNTRY and beyond just to get some darn payback! What the hay is wrong with you?!" Celestia raged, the prospect of her subjects being harmed had always made her vastly more irritable, especially whenever she was unable to help or actively chose not to involve herself for some spectacular and supernatural or ethereal reason.
"Because, I knew that the Ponies would go easy on you. And I wanted to make sure that it was done right. It isn't like you can undo my Dark Magic. After all, I spent the last millennium perfecting it, you and those Elements of Harmony are worthless. Completely powerless against it. Face it Celestia, I've won." Death Rose responded, his eyes narrowed further from his entertained, yet deeply annoyed perception of this interaction, he knew that he no longer needed to be present, Luna being infected would doom the entire city, and soon enough, the entire country. "I will find a way. No matter what, I will make you suffer for the damnation you have wrought upon my little ponies. You might have Dark Magic. But I have seen things in the last one thousand years, many magical things. Things that will bring your undoing." Celestia promised, she had seen so many indescribable, and impossible things over the course of her reign over the country, even after and before she had imprisoned Luna within the Moon for most of the millennium that she'd been in power. "Heh. We'll see about that. Tia." Death Rose mocked, he gently clapped his hooves against the ground, his horn blazed with red tinted magic as sigils and symbols began floating around like fireflies, then he unfurled his wings, which made him vanish into a burst of magical energy.
"Alright, if my arcane calculations are correct. This spell, mixed with this specific hex, should hopefully hone my magic enough to reverse the infestation. And hopefully, weaponize the infection to heal instead of kill his body." Omega explained, his horn was lit up with sparkling pink magic as he levitates a small journal above his head, the journal detailed his various notes of the infection. The notes were clearly over a millennium old, but Twilight was unable to find a non insulting way of asking how Omega had such information despite not seeming over millennia old. "Yes, I am aware of that, you've mentioned it ever since we got up to this room. And that's all you've elaborated. So can you explain a little more before I get more suspicious." Twilight snarled, her eyes briefly flashed a shimmering indigo as she glared towards the pale furred unicorn before her, she was trying to remain civil. But the fact that he was seemingly hiding information, only made her more suspicious of his intentions.
"Right! Sorry. Uh, ahem. This affliction. It's kind of like...A virus, but naturally. It's a parasitic organism that transmutes organic matter, such as flesh, muscle, bone, tendons, even hair and fur. And turns them into this...Gold like substance, with the same conductive qualities, making them more resistant to magic, since gold can conduct and sometimes redirect magical attacks or forces cast upon them." Omega continued, he watched the crystal barrier holding Spike, his eyes were narrowed as he watched the cuboid crystalline material. This revelation, made Twilight pause, she hadn't fully processed the fact that this infection completely changed the atomic structure of organic entities to transform them into gold, or whatever kind of gold this is. "So, my plan is simple. I'm going to hopefully override it. This infection, it kills the body, rapidly. Like, the minute you get infected, it starts killing all the living cells in your body so they can be infested with infected magical cells. This causes the body to take on that...Golden hue, that's basically the rotting of the corpses, just without the decay or decomposition" Omega admitted, he'd spent awhile examining the symptoms and eventual effects of the 'Golden Affliction' that was spreading through Equestria. Although, he hadn't ever seen the affliction being so violent, not since he'd last seen the source of it.
"So, how do you plan to help him? It sounds like...Like he's irreversibly damage, this infection is the only thing that's actually keeping him going." Twilight observed, her voice sounded calm, but her eyes, they resonated with so much grief and pain that Omega could almost sense the magical emotions radiating out from her alicorn magic. "Well, fortunately. This affliction isn't impenetrable. And if Death Rose used Spike as a host, then I can harness that magical connection for my own usage. Just as Death Rose honed his magic to create his infection, I honed my own magic to combat it. But I haven't been successful in completely curing a subject, but now. I think I can, I think I can use Spike to undo his own infection." Omega explained, his countless attempts to combat the infection had proven fruitless in the past, but this time, a host had been used as a conduit for Death Rose, a conduit for which he was able to speak through. This time, he had left behind a small fragment of his own magic that could he harnessed and weaponised against his powerful hold.
"So, you think that you can undo this using his own magic?" Twilight questioned, she'd spent basically her entire life harnessing the art of magic, doing this not even the strongest ancient sorcerers weren't capable of doing. But this, this felt genuinely impossible, it sounded like the ramblings of a sorcerer gone completely mad after attempting to harness magic that wasn't meant to be harnessed. "Yes. Hopefully. But I need to collapse my spell, so you should stay back, I can't be afflicted, long story. But you still can, you've negated the continued spread of your infection, temporarily . We cannot risk you getting infected again." Omega ordered subtly, his words, although well intentioned, sounded less like an observation, and more like a thinly veiled order to follow. Twilight, for her understanding, knew to accept and follow such an order, she wasn't willing to let Spike harm her again, not after actually infecting her.
"Uh, alright..." Twilight muttered, she trotted over to the back of the room, she briefly glanced towards the crystal cube as she walks up to the wall, then she sat down and just watched. "Thanks, now. Time to undo some powerful magic." Omega stated, his horn began to blaze with sparks of pink energy, he focused this magic into the tip of his horn, the aura that formed around the base was pushed up to the tip of his appendage. He tilts his head forward, the slightest movement to get him moving, then he paused as he glared towards the cube, this made the crystal begin to crack, the surface destabilizing. Omega let out a shaky breath, the magic around his horn began to flicker, shifting from pink, to red, as if unsure which color to pick. Omega shook his head, he pushed himself forward slightly, his horn continued to blaze, then he muttered something, this made the cube shatter into pieces, fragments crashing to the ground like bricks.
Spike crumbled to the ground, his skin was aching from being trapped in motion for so long, suffering the consequences of being effectively paused in both time and space. Spike blinks, then he raised his head to glare at Omega, the single look he got, was enough to make his fangs bare themselves, he immediately started dashing towards the white furred unicorn. "YOU! I THOUGHT I TERMINATED YOU!" Spike shrieked, he still sounded like Death Rose, perhaps he hadn't been unbound from Death Rose. This question was unknown to Omega and Twilight, however, the next move wasn't. Omega shot out a single burst of volatile magic, this send Spike sliding backwards once he was struck, his scales were briefly scarred from the damage, only for the golden hue to override the scarred tissue. "You tried. But I'm like a cockroach. I just can't stay dead. " Omega stated humorously, his eyes were narrowed as he held his spell. His horn continued blazing, he galloped towards Spike so he could push his horn straight into Spike's chest, Spike gasped. Twilight did the same, she didn't know how to respond, she didn't need too. Omega and Spike both collapsed, they were seemingly unconscious, she didn't know how, but hoped it wasn't a bad thing.
