The very air shuddered.

The five ponies stood still, barely able to move for the moment, as they gawked in shocked horror at the sight that was before them, standing behind a mystical spell barrier that stretched from wall to wall of the room they were all standing in.

The creature was an Alicorn, they could tell by the wings and horn… but just what kind of Alicorn was anypony’s guess.

It was the most horrifying thing that any of them had ever seen or even imagined!
It was tall, very tall, similar to Celestia in that regard, but its body was just monstrous and haggard. The legs were all thin and the hooves were disturbingly replaced by some sort of thick frightful black claws, while the body itself was a sort of faded light grayish-brown color which also looked incredibly gaunt and withered, with numerous small crack-like scars appearing across the body and lightly shimmering.

Her wings were also heavily altered and the feathery endings were replaced with what looked like sharp edges, almost like each wing was some sort of leather with dried blades or something similar at the ends.

Her mane and tail were both longer and a bright pink color, but also were more wild and unkept and tattered in appearance, and there even seemed to be some sort of slightly glowing type of liquid-fire on them both, shimmering faintly and falling off of her body even and either hitting the ground softly and disappearing or outright vanishing in midair, almost like she was bleeding.
It was the same color as the disturbing cracks that seemingly were across a bit of her body, shining just as brightly.

Her horn was quite a bit longer too, but more curled and vicious looking like the horn of Queen Chrysalis, and it was crackling just a bit with magical power that seemed to be laying just beneath the surface and was aching to be let out.
And lastly, she had two extra eyes placed just above her normal two as well, all four of them burning with the same intense pink fiery energy.

“Twi-Twilight… YOU can’t be our darling friend! What have you done with her!?”
Rarity first stuttered and then shrieked in fury, her own horn lighting up as she prepared to battle with this eldritch horror that had clearly mimicked the Alicorn’s voice and drew the five of them here as a trap.

“Yeah!”
Rainbow Dash loudly growled, her body tending as she prepared to lunge forward and attack the monster who clearly had harmed her dear friend!

But before the others could voice their own angry thoughts, the creature simply let out a sigh, its voice odd and unnerving at first, but ending with a sort of echoing effect at the end.
An echo that was that of Twilight’s voice!

“Relax girls, it’s me… or rather, what’s left of me.”

This FROZE them all in their spots. How… when did… what just… HOW!?!

“As I’m sure you’ve all heard, there is some kind of horrific viral infection that’s spread far and wide across all Equestria. From what I can gather with what research I’ve done, it came through a portal between different realms that MIGHT or MIGHT NOT have been opened by a number of Unicorn criminals who performed a forbidden ritual to some dark and forgotten part of the Cosmos… someplace that was never meant to be accessed or even known of by ponies.”

She magically created a series of visions that appeared in front of her and played out in front of her friends like a movie, the scenes showing everything in detail and changing slowly to match what Twilight spoke about.

“I know this because I just heard of them two nights ago, but thought that I myself and maybe Spike could deal with it, because they were into a few and were known as being minor criminals typically. They somehow managed to sneak into my lab when I left the door open and stole several of my latest experiments on curing diseases and other stronger healing spells. By the time I had arrived at their area when I tracked them down, they’d already completed their final ritual and… something, came through the portal.”

The THING that now appeared for the dark swirling door between dimensions was just, well, shapeless. It was like a valid fog and a gust of smoke, like the tendrils of an octopus and yet also a cloud of falling dust.
The mere sight of this shapeless, formless entity caused virtually ALL of the five ponies watching it to instinctively take a step back, or several in poor Fluttershy’s case.

“The next thing I knew, it had completely infected every single part of the poor idiots who had summoned it, turning them into mindless horrible monsters, and then it was already infecting my body and mind before I could properly keep it blocked out. But somehow, I still retain my own mind and sanity, even if this is what I have become now.”

The illusionary flashback ended, and the horribly altered Alicorn, The Princess of Friendship, stood before them again.

“And the reason why I am now here with the Elements of Harmony… is because I need you all to help me to save our home, likely the entire world, from this terrible accursed disease.”

“Anythin’ ya need, sugar cube!”
Applejack said immediately.

“Likewise, Twi! Just name it!”
Rainbow Dash immediately joined in.

“That goes for me as well, darling!”

“Yes, me too Twilight!”

“I’ll go whatever I can to help you.”

“Thank you all. Now just let please, stand there.”

There was a round of silence or confused “hah?” and “what?” and then Twilight moved her head… and a sudden fresh border seemingly appeared inside of the current one.
It was around 5 or 6 hoofsteps from them, and was as an orange electrical fire on the ground, rising up to a pony’s ankles. All in all, it didn’t look like something anypony would want to touch, and the heat it radiated was helping with that effect.

“What the-what’s this!?”

“Did you just, separate yourself from us even more?”

“I’m sorry, my friends. But I cannot allow you to interfere with this. It’s something I must do.”

Twilight, what in Equestria are you taking about?”
Rarity asked and stepped forward, getting dangerously close to the border.

“Get back!”
Twilight suddenly let out an alarmed-sounding growl, making everypony flinch back. She cleared her throat, but her voice was still firm and a bit intimidating, more-so than it was so far.

“I’m sorry again, but none of you can cross that newly separation spell I just cast. It’s a Hellfire Barrier now, and if anypony crosses over… let’s just that the results might just be worse than what I look like right now.”

“Twilight, what are you trying to do!? You are infected with a horrendously inconvenient disease from another world that is terrorizing the whole of Equestria and possibly the entire continent, you have all the Elements of Harmony gathered together and they are with you, and now you’ve erected a lethal barrier between us and yourself! What-what is wrong with you!? This does not make any sense!”
Rarity cried out in confused dismay, and the others sounded off in agreements. It was right, it DIDN’T make sense for her to do this!

Then Pinkie said the unimaginable.
“For Faust’s sake, Twilight, your acting like you intend to use the power of The Elements of Harmony themselves to pull all of the virus across the world into yourself and are counting on either dying fast and destroying the virus too or on your Princess status to keep you sane!”

The mutated Alicorn didn’t act surprised or try to argue against the statement, she could not even say a word in response to that: she simply couldn’t.
The others were about to either say something in accordance with Pinkie’s short angry rant or something else, but suddenly… they all went quiet. Twilight’s slight shift in demeanor, as subtle as it was, was not missed by a single pony. They knew her too well to miss it, after everything they’d all been through together.

Then…

“NO!!!”

Their voices screamed as one!

“No, you can’t!”

“This is a fools choice!”

“Don’t you BUCKING dare!”

“Don’t ya’ even THINK bout’ it!”

“You just CANT!”

Twilight stood as they desperately ranted and screamed at her, and she said nothing for a long while.
But eventually, when she saw them not yelling together in confusion, she started to speak, forcing her words out even as her vast power within kept surging and bubbling and trying to escape.

“You all just don’t understand this.”

Dash immediately responded with her characteristic passion.
“And thank Celestia we don’t! How can you possibly come up with such an insanely idiotic idea, Twilight!? I am supposed to be the stupid one who doesn’t think these things through!”

“Don’t say that abou-“

“Dontcha’ change the bucking subject, Twi!”
Applejack interrupted furiously, but then the infected Alicorn in question suddenly took on a darker tone and voice.

“If you all are simply going to yell and curse at me, then just turn around and leave right now. I don’t need this on top of what I’m going through in this condition!”

“…”
Suddenly, the other five lost their words. They quickly realized that they hadn’t even thought about what it must FEEL like, to be altered so horribly so as to appear unrecognizable to the extent that their dear friend now was.

“But… but Twilight, why? Why must you do this to yourself?”
Fluttershy’s soft voice finally came out, her eyes glimmering with tears.

With a softer voice then any of them had heard her use since they arrived at The Castle of Friendship and found her like this, Twilight answered with a sigh.

“For you all. For everypony. For every country and empire and territory. And… for the sake of Harmony itself.”

Fluttershy was, understandably, a bit confused by the last reason.
“Wh…huh?”

Twilight now took a deep breath and began to speak in a clear voice, or as clear as she could make her voice sound at this point.

“Harmony is not just being nice to others in a number of ways, or some kind of on-the-spot kind of occurrence or… or some sort of special weapon to be used against a disharmonious enemy. It is very much a way of life in itself, you know? It is something that is meant to last forever, if possible.”

The creature that was Twilight looked up at the ceiling with a raspy sigh, before turning her eyes back down at the other Bearers of Harmony.

“When something like this happens, a plague that threatens to destroy everything we’ve ever fought for, then we must overcome it by any means necessary, but not in a way that leads to us destroying innocent lives. We cannot simply sacrifice a few for the sake of the rest… not when there is another alternative.”

Applejack voiced her protests. There had to be another way than this!
“But ain’t there somethin’ else ya can do? Ah’ mean, yer’ smart n’ all! You can figure it aht’!”

“Indeed,” Rarity spoke up as well.
“Turning yourself even further into… this, and taking all of these terrible, horrible diseases onto yourself… it can’t be the only way to save Equestria!”

Twilight simply shook her monstrous, unrecognizable head and raised a long, claw-tipped limb.

“And indeed, that is why I must do this. And, if you are all really willing, it is also why I ask you all to not interfere, and simply allow me perform this greatest and most important act of sacrifice and duty. Not just to Equestria, of course, but to this whole endangered WORLD. I know indeed that I simply can’t do it with my own power alone.”

Twilight’s voice was solemn now, more than it had been before.

“I have read so many books where something of a similar nature happens. Some horrific occurrence happens where “friendship cannot solve this problem” or “this is reality, and reality doesn’t care about friendship” and so many other sad, tragically wrong, and utterly depressing ideas from the minds of unhappy and miserable ponies who believe that hardship and pain is the truest form of life and will actively try to tear down the ideals and values of those who DO know the truth, because it simply doesn’t fit with this nihilistic ideology of life being meaningless and hopeless.”

The mutated Alicorn’s eyes seemed to take a slightly darker, more sombre shade as she spoke of this, and the others were taken aback that such books existed, apparently, as n such quantity.

“I’ve even read a number of… I don’t really know what it can be called, “satire” or something? But anyway, I’ve seen some of those really dark and foolish stories that have been written in the darker corners of the market in cities and places far from Ponyville and Catnterlot.
Books where WE ALL get infected with a bunch of horrible viruses and demon-like infections that warp our bodies and minds… stories where even our magical status as The Bearers of The Elements of Harmony means nothing, and we still all either die or become horrific monsters who lose our sanities, and it would be the same with the Princesses as well.”

Rainbow Dash had seen similar books herself, but Twilight had convinced her to let go of her anger and disgust and that it would be dealt with soon enough.
The Pegasus blanched a bit as she remembered it all now, and the others gasped again and looked offended and shocked (and sickened, in Fluttershy’s case) that such vile tales actually were in circulation in Equestria.

“In virtually ALL of those books and stories, we’d ALWAYS lose one way or another.
Any attempts to use scientific studies or our various Magics to stop the infections would only increase our suffering often times or would just kill us and many others at best, and the pessimistic nihilism that continually preaches that nothing matters and that we are all trapped in a vast uncaring cosmos where only death and suffering are the truest forms of existence… it would be so prevalent in each of those tales…”

She sighed heavily as she concluded this lecture, or speech.

“But that is only fiction. THIS is the reality of the situation.
And even though there are innocent ponies out there who are suffering and dying, either from getting infected or being killed by those who are, even as the world has fallen into darkness and everypony is struggling not to despair… my rationality is still my own.
I am The Princess of Friendship, an Alicorn, The Bearer of the Element of Magic, and so my soul and morality have not been consumed by this accursed plague, even if my body has been twisted and corrupted and destroyed by it.”

Her long curved horn, continually glowing just a bit and crackling with sparks and wisps of raw magical energy, now unleashed a small pulse of fiery light that swirled around in the air above her mutated form.

“In fact, this strange virus, or whatever it really is… seems to be the kind of alteration that is trying to build me into the ultimate form that I can become, but in the process is tearing apart my body with the Magic overload and fast-paced physical mutation.”

Her aura was now visible to them, like a sort of uneven bubble of thin pink miasma all around her body and partially hovering over her as well, with some thicker parts taking on the appearance of fire with lightning at its very center.

“I can feel the enormous amount of Magic flooding my body and mind, almost like an entire ocean that is thrashing about in the midst of a storm and only being held back by a small dam from overrunning a coastal city. It’s… kind of frightful in a way.”

The other ponies in the room could FEEL the gargantuan amount of mystical power radiating from the infected Alicorn and trying to smother them, and thin wisps of raw Magic even came forth and randomly disappeared and reformed along the floor and walls and ceiling, slithering like serpents.

“Uh, Twi?”
Applejack said nervously.

“Could you, like, tone down the scary aspect about 20%?”
Rainbow said next. And surprisingly, the frightful Magic coming from the creature in question suddenly began to fade away, some of it pouring back into her like water flowing down a stream.

“Sorry guys, I was just trying to show you what I mean. But believe me: there is no other option, there never was. I cannot simply whip up a cure after studying the infected blood of other ponies or myself, nor can I try to look over the frequencies in the mind or the magical signature of somepony infected and figure out a way to counter it.
I’m not going to experiment with other’s lives, and what research I have done shows absolutely no way to somehow stop this dark virus before it consumes all of Equestria and possibly even the world itself. This is the one conclusion I have been able to come to that might just work for real, and I-“

“No!”
Fluttershy was now louder and stronger, her ever-increasing concern and desperation clear in her tone and on her face.

“Twilight, you can’t do this! Please, you mustn’t! There has to be… Discord! HE can find a way! He’s the Lord of all Chaos Magic itself and has already seen and done so much across this and countless other worlds, he must know-!”

“Fluttershy, no! Discord certainly can help out and it may go a long way, but we can’t force him to go against his very nature to this extent! Remember when he started fading away from reality because he attempted to stop causing chaos? What do you think will happen to him if he attempts to reverse something at THIS level of deadliness and potency!?”

Twilight’s voice was now suddenly so strong and vicious that the others either shrunk back or, in AJ’s and RD’s cases, instinctively stood in front of their other friends defensively even as their faces shown with just a bit of concern and uncertainty.
At this sight, Twilight lowered her tone and spoke more calmly.

“This isn’t some random flu or something, this is a dimension-crossing virus that affects the bodies, minds, and MAGIC of a creatures body, ok? It is something entirely unheard of, and even my own attempts to use a variety of advanced spells to keep it from infecting me haven’t worked at all, even when I used the Element of Magic itself to the very best of my ability.”

The others faces showed increasing alarm and concern as she revealed this to them.

“Remember when we went to Earth, the human realm which had no magic at all, and my Element quite literally altered reality itself and made Magic a reality over there? That same power couldn’t even slow down this heinous infection, ok? Heck, if anything it only made my own mutation become more complex and much stronger.”

She sighed tiredly as she continued.

“If we tried to recruit Discord to stop this curse or whatever it is, it could very likely backfire on him. This infection is so fast spreading it may have already gotten past The Crystal Empire and who knows where else, ok?”

She put an altered hoof/set of claws to her chest in sincerity as she spoke now, and her friends couldn’t find anything to say to try disproving her words.

“We’d essentially be asking him to RESTORE safety and order to multiple countries, and doing that is the very opposite of chaos. He would likely be risking his own existence for a chance that we can MAYBE trap or erase something dangerous that we don’t understand one bit and have no idea of how it even works.”

She started pacing back and forth from side to side of the room as she confined her rant.

“I mean, if one of the Elements of Harmony failed to do anything to this curse, just what could Chaos Magic do? For all we know, it might just cause an even greater mutation to develop and appear right after Discord has to leave or outright dematerializes or something, and it would wreak untold havoc by the time he can return! We can’t do that, guys. We can’t ask him to do something this dangerous for a mere chance it may be successful, a chance that has more ways to go wrong than right. We just can’t.”

Everypony else in the room were silent. Even if they didn’t agree with Twilight’s own idea, they simply could not argue with her reasoning. She was right, they had no right to risk the life of another creature in a gamble of this magnitude.

Pinkie suddenly spoke up.
“But cmon now, Twilight. Cant we just try to use The Elements themselves right now to purge you and maybe even the virus itself? I mean, we are all here right now, aren’t we? How about we give it a shot?”

Theoretically we could, but-”

“But nothing, Twi! Pinkie is right, The Elements of Harmony can do anything if we really believe in them and don’t give up! Cmon, we can stop this thing and save you too in the process!”
Rainbow Dash said as she got close to Twilight, her voice confident and filled to the brim with all the charisma she could muster to try changing Twilight’s mind.
The infected Alicorn merely looked at her sadly.

“… that’s just the thing, guys. Remember? Magic is the most powerful and elusive Element of them all. Scholarly ponies who know quite a bit about the Elements themselves still wonder to this day why Magic is included in Harmony, but it simply is. And yet, when I used my own knowledge and the Element itself against this virus as it infected me, it was as if this inter-dimensional contagion somehow adapted itself to the conceptual framework that I arrayed against it and rapidly became stronger.”

She sighed as her friend’s faces became fraught with even more dismay.
“I simply don’t think it can work out this time. If this virus grows stronger from having The Element of Magic attacking it, I shudder to think about how it would react to the five other Elements being added in next. And how can we say that we’ll be using them harmoniously when I myself don’t properly believe in that plan? The potential horrors of what can happen to you all in the event of a backfiring are something I don’t want to think about.”

“But… it can’t have come to this.”
Fluttershy spoke in a broken voice, her eyes now starting to fill with tears. Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder to comfort her as best she could.

“Twilight, you can’t…”
Dash said painfully, not even trying to hold back her own tears.

“I’m afraid it has come to this, girls. That is ultimately why I need you all to stay back and not interfere as I can do this. It’s the only way I have figured that I will be able to draw all of this plague from Equestria and Celestia knows where else it has spread to and still keep myself sane enough to direct my plan and keep it in motion.
This thing cannot overpower the Elements themselves, even if they cannot drive it away. If you all allow me to harness the power and stability of your individual Elements of Harmony… I will be able to save countless lives and repair perhaps ALL of the damage done by the virus. It will very likely cost me my life, but between one pony’s life and the lives of everypony and everycreature in the world… I know none of you would hesitate to do this either, if you were in my hooves.”

The other girls were just lost. They couldn’t just sit back and allow their friend, their dear, sweet, kind, selfless, and terribly suffering friend do this.
To take on every last bit of the nightmarish virus that was twisting and slaughtering and destroying their homeland and a very clear threat to the entire world.
She was already in a truly horrible condition right now anyway with just HER own level of infection, what kind of torment would she be put through after she’d taken the virus from the entire WORLD???

That was assuming she would even SURVIVE the spell, ritual, whatever it was called…

“Then I am.”

The sudden interruption the silence came from none other than The Element of Loyalty herself, and Twilight’s twin pairs of ethereal eyes noticeably brightened, as if in surprise, ever so slightly.

“… what?”

“I said that I am in this with you as well, Twilight. I’m not letting you do this alone.”
The Pegasus now stepped forward, and all eyes were on her. All in shock, all in fear, as she walked up far too close to the barrier.
The small flames there now seemed to grow more agitated as she got closer.

“Rainbow… please don’t...”

The Pegasus in question was… eerily focused, unlike how she usually was. There was no passionate ranting or reckless passion in her behavior, none of that fiery excitement or usual hyper energy.

“You can’t do two alone, Twi. I already know that. None of us could do this. And… and that’s why we are friends. To help each other, remember?”

The Alicorn creature seemed to be getting more agitated, her horn sparking crazier and the wave of magical pressure going forth and slamming into the others.
But somehow, Rainbow Dash didn’t stumble back, even as she narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth to keep from giving in to the temptation to get away from the source of potential danger.

“Rainbow, get back! Haven’t you listened to a word I’ve just said!? None of you will be able to handle this, ok!? I’m only able to hold on because of my status as an Alicorn and my own unique Element, the same can’t just be automatically assumed for you as well!”

“You don’t know that, Twilight! Heck, nopony even knew this curse existed until it appeared!”
Some of the familiar energy had entered the Pegasus’s voice, but it immediately seemed to disappear as she panted a bit and sighed again.

“See? This is why I tried to do this without you girls knowing about it. I KNEW that you’d all try to stop me somehow, even as this thing continues to infect and kill ponies everywhere across Equestria!”

But now Rainbow stepped forward again, and her voice was strong. Filled with conviction.

“Twilight, listen to me, ok? You want to do something good, something totally awesome and great. But you’re forgetting one thing.”
And here she now was almost touching the sizzling barrier, the flames now crackling viciously.

“We are your friends. I am your friend.”

Her purplish eyes shone now. Fear there was, just a bit of fear about what she was doing.
But that was completely overshadowed by the complete and genuine conviction that poured from her two shimmering orbs into Twilight’s four burning ones, the Alicorn looking more and more tense and almost afraid herself somehow.

“Twilight, you… your my most important friend, in some way that I can’t explain very well, ok? Please, I just… I need you.”

Applejack was the first to step forward from the others, her mind coming to the realization of what Rainbow Dash was saying. And what needed to be done.

The rainbow Pegasus sucked in a hasty breath, her voice strained with emotion.
“Twilight, you may think that I and our friends taught YOU all about the magic of friendship. But you’ve helped me understand it in so many more ways than you could ever possibly imagine.”

She now stood mere inches from the blazing line on the ground, and it crackled and hissed and cast up sparks with an ever-increasing intensity.

“The Elements of Harmony aren’t just small necklaces and a crown with Magic. I remember how once you had a theory that the jewels themselves are really just, what’s the word..?”

“Physical embodiments.”
Twilight said almost automatically, her voice carrying a subtle and surprising sadness to it.

“Yeah, that’s it. Physical embodiments of all the parts of harmony itself. But they aren’t the REAL power, so to speak.”

The voice of Rarity now made itself heard, as she and the others were standing together just behind Dash, and Applejack was the first to step forward among them and now stand by her side.
“It is the unity and harmony of those who bear them, that truly matters.”

“And now all uh’ us are here together with ya, sugar cube. And ya’ know darned well that we ain’t gonna leave ya.”

Twilight did not say a word, but her Magic seemed to be bubbling up further and deeper within her, and her breathing was starting to get a bit faster.

“We are your friends, Twilight! And now this time, more than any other, it’s time for us to prove it to you. And we will!”
Pinkie said, her voice uncharacteristically serious, the way it was so very rarely when she was truly serious a subject.

“Friendship might as well not even exist, if there’s no Loyalty shared between friends. Our devotion to each other and to doing the right thing is one of the strongest things we can have.”
Dash said, her eyes and voice more genuine and sincere than any of them had ever seen or heard her be before.

“How can ponies be friends if they don’t know how to keep each other’s spirits up? If they don’t help each other look at all the ugly parts of life and still smile no matter what, are they even real friends at all?”
Pinkie said, her eyes strong and her voice genuine.

“What worth is Harmony, and Friendship itself, without the ability of bein’ honest tuh’ each other, without the integrity tuh’ do what’s right regardless of wether it’s east or it ain’t?”
The strong farm pony spoke her wisdom.

Now Rarity stepped forward and looked Twilight softly in the eye.
“How can Harmony be complete without the Generosity to willingly give to a cause, even if it were to cost you everything you have?”

Twilight could not deny that fact, either.
And lastly, Fluttershy came forward.
“I know, we all know, that you cannot ask us to join you in doing something as utterly painful and horrible as this.”

The little Pegasus stood shoulder to shoulder with her friends, her sweet and strong owlish eyes gazing up at the infected Alicorn with compassion and conviction.

“But you cannot simply expect us to sit back and allow you to do this to yourself, either! Because no friendship can hope to hold true if there is no kindness to be shared between friends, if there is no compassion that allows us to help each other carry truly unbearable burdens.”

“This here, Twi, is what it truly means tuh’ be a friend.”
Applejack said, standing tall and strong as she ever did, her voice firm and yet gentle at the same time. And as one, the five ponies reached their hooves out… and stepped over the barrier.

And as they did so, immediately they were enduring some of the most terrible pain they’d ever had imagined possible.
Their manes and tails smoking already, their eyes tearing up fast, her nostrils and throats getting dry rapidly.
But it didn’t matter at all. For they were walking through fire, literally, for their beloved friend and for their homeland.

“So if you are really gonna do this then…”
Rainbow Dash said, her voice somehow still clear enough to allow her sincerity and love for her dear companion shine through, even as Twilight seemed to be starting to shake slightly and thickly swallowed.

They all pushed through the torment and reached her.

“Then you’re going to have to…”
Fluttershy struggled.

“To take us with you then, darling…”
Rarity finished, her voice cracking and pained.

Twilight finally couldn’t take it anymore, and the horribly mutated Alicorn’s blade-like horn flashed brightly, the inferno they were trapped in instantly faded away and her horn glowed and covered them each in a faint aura that seemed to neutralize the pain they were all in, at least a bit.

“If… if this is what you all really have decided to do…”
And the monstrous creature now was starting to leak a familiar transparent liquid from her eyes, and she grabbed them all in a group hug, using her longer limbs and magical telekinesis to pull them in.

No pony said anything or true to resist, and all tearfully embraced each other as they all knew this could very well be the last time they would get the chance.
No non-infected pony complained about how Twilight’s body was hotter than usual and gave off a bit more heat than was expected or comfortable really, and none of the six tried to pull away first.

Until at last, they all knew that they couldn’t linger here forever, and slowly the friends ended their hug and stood apart, The Elements of Harmony now all glowing together and flirting through the air to their respective pony bearers.
And already, the five of the non-infected ones could feel their bodies starting to hurt anew from deep within.

“That was the reason I had the initial barrier spell in place before I reinforced it with Hellfire,” Twilight explained.
“I knew that being in merely the same room as me would infect anypony, or creature for that matter. You all are already in the process of becoming the same as me now.”

“Well, it definitely can’t be all bad! I mean, if we are even slightly as strong as you clearly are, then I’m fine with it! Plus, we can have our own really secret hideout that only WE know about!”
Pinkie’s ridiculously happy voice sung through the group, and none could help it and cracked a small smile each.

“Nothing ever really dampens your spirits, eh Pinkie?”

“Nope! And after this, nothing ever could even get close to doing that!”

They all shared a small laugh and chuckle, but then Twilight sighed and cleared her throat, making a sound more akin to a growl.

“What if we all do die here, doing this? And rather than being greeted with something amazing and wonderful, there’s no peace or anything like that? Just… darkness?”

The others were silent for a moment. But Pinkie Pie spoke up again.
“Then we’ll all face it together...”
And she swallowed her tears.

They turned to look at her, but Fluttershy looked at Twilight instead, her eyes and voice as gentle and comforting as she had always been as she finished for Pinkie.
“… like always.”

And with that, the six friends smiled one last time together like this as their tears streaked down their faces.
Then they closed their eyes and focused, and the mystical jewels that embodies Harmony itself began to shine with power as they all began to float into the air, the bright and majestic colors of the rainbow appeared….

And the room exploded with magical light.

-

Spike slowly blinked a few times, his vision steadily clearing up as he awoke. The memories of what he’d just seen still echoing in his head and… wait a minute, did he just see…
The young dragon quickly sat up and looked around. He was still in Golden Oaks Library, on the floor. His eyes darted forward…

And the heavily mutated equine creature that was Rainbow Dash stared right back at him, that unnerving expression still lingering on her monstrous face.
Her head was now tilted slightly to one side, looking almost like she was teasingly/mockingly asking him what was wrong. The young dragon had to breathe in several times over and shake his head before he could stand and try to speak. But then…

“In case you were wondering, it’s true. That’s what happened to me and led to me becoming this… well, “thing” that I am right now.”

Now her face seemed to shift slightly, her gaping maw closed and she seemed to almost look… somewhat apologetic?
“Sorry if it was a bit much. I’m not really good at this sort of stuff. But those were my memories.”

Spike closed his eyes and took in another few breaths before talking.
“So basically, Twilight stopped some jerks who summoned a demon disease from across space and time, got infected by it as it spread everywhere else, and then you all stopped her from trying to take it all within herself and are now infected yourselves?”

She shrugged.
“That’s about it. Thankfully we are still sane.”

“…I could use a dozen diamonds melted down into a carbonated drink right about now, maybe with a half dozen rubies for good measure.”

“The feeling is mutual. Just add some cider and it’ll be about 20% more awesome.”

The two just stood there after saying that. Not moving, not saying another word.

Finally Spike broke the ice anew.

“So… are you gonna do something else, or… what?”

At this, Rainbow Dash began to laugh. It was a sort of hissing, guttural sound. Not very pleasant, to be perfectly honest.

“Well, I guess I gotta get going now. We couldn’t pull infection stuff out from everypony, but we took care of the Crystal Empire all good and cured the virus from all of them. From what Twilight told us, she also was able to do something weird healing spell, so everycreature hurt or worse also gets magically cured and ate as good as new. Pretty awesome, right?”

“Uh yeah, it really is. It’s just, uh… kinda a lot to have to take in at the moment.”
Spike was trying to process it all, he really was. But to say that things were kind of overwhelming and confusing was putting it VERY mildly.

“And in case you were wondering, no, I wasn’t killing anypony with my lightning storm or when saved you directly from Derpy. I simply knocked them all out so we could extract the virus-curse-thing from them when the time is available.”

She then turned her head a little to one side, then talked to Spike again as she seemed to be studying her surroundings.
“I’ll be finished with Ponyville pretty soon. I’ve already cleaned up main roads all leading here, and Applejack is at Apple Acres, at least last time I checked.”

“Ok then,” Spike nodded, scratching his head as he began wondering what to do next.
“Any idea what I should do until… I dunno, everything rolls over?”

“Ahh, just camp out here and wait for one of us to give you the OK that it’s safe to come out now. We may be able to keep our minds and stuff because we bear, or we ARE, The Elements of Harmony themselves, but I doubt it’s the same with you. Just stay safe, ok?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll do that.”
Spike replied, and he blew out a breath a few moments later.
“So, uhhh… are you girls gonna-?”

But before he could finish his question, Rainbow Dash had already disappeared in a flash of lightning.
And echoing “Talk to you later!” completed her exit.

Author's Note

Sorry if this seemed rushed in certain areas. But I was in a hurry, and I hope y’all like it!