Prologue: The beginning of the end
One day in Ponyville, Lyra was enjoying relaxing on a park bench when she saw a speck stumbling along the road. Sitting up, she saw a stallion with a dark brown mane and scraggly stubble collapse. Running up to the injured pony, she asked, "Excuse me, what's wrong?"
The stallion looked at her, coughed wetly, and stood shakily, ignoring her.
Lyra stood, confused, and then turned back to him. "Um... excuse me?"
The stallion looked at her, and then a panic entered his eyes. Rushing up to her, he started to scream at her, "My-my wife, Lily! And baby LaPon! Where are they?" He began looking around frantically and calling out those two names.
Lyra just stood frozen, dumbstruck. What was the stallion talking about? "Um, sir, what's your name?"
He looked back to her for a moment and shouted, "George!" He turned back around and stumbling along towards the center of town. Lyra caught a few mutters, "Disease... lab... got to... get away..."
At this, Lyra turned and charged away, looking for a way to contact the Princess.
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A few hours later, the Royal Guards stood on the outskirts of Ponyville, joined by Princess Celestia. Twilight was there also, flipping through a book about diseases with her magic. The purple unicorn mare was muttering to herself, lost in thought about whatever the stallion could have had. George had been put in quarantine, but he had already been in contact with most of the ponies in Ponyville, who would come in contact with countless other ponies.
The Guard Captain, a young stallion named Braun, was questioning Lyra about the actions of our poor George, "What exactly did he do?"
"Well..." Lyra began, "first he just ignored me, then began shouting something about a wife and child. Then I heard him say something about a lab, disease, and escaping. Then he wandered away." She wrung her front hooves, "Do... do you think that maybe they're...?" she didn't have to finish.They all knew she meant "dead." Twilight even looked up from her book to gaze in shock at the mare.
The Captain looked gravely at the fields around Ponyville, Every possibility is in reason here, ma'am." He turned to the Princess, who nodded at him. He turned to his troops and shouted, "Alright, I want a full search of these fields for a mare and her filly. Search in teams of two, and report back when you've found them."
The thirty guards with them nodded, "Yes, sir!" They all flew out to search the pair of ponies.
The Captain turned to Celestia, "Do you think...?" Celestia nodded gravely, and the Captain gulped. Twilight, ever observant, noticed this but decided that now was not the time to ask. She returned to her reading, unaware that she would find no disease like George's in it.
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Phil and his friend Swift, two Guards, flew low over the field in search of the mare and filly. They had been searching for about an hour.
Phil decided to make small talk, "So.. what do you think happened with that George guy?"
Swift shrugged, "I don't know. What I do know is that he was in the Guard for my first two years and then was called off to someplace. That was five years ago."
Phil shuddered, "I wonder where he was taken."
Swift harrumphed and said again, "I don't know, but wherever he was something bad must have happened."
They flew in silence for about five minutes. Then Phil noticed a flash of red and a little black against the green of the field. "Hey, what's that?"
Swift looked to where he was pointing, "Maybe it's the two we're looking for. Let's go down." He coasted to the ground and trotted up to the bundles, only to rear back in surprise and disgust.
"What, Swift?" Phil asked. Then He reached the bodies, "HOLY BUCK, WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM!" He screamed.
The mare and filly were in horrible shape. Their faces were a deep purple and bloated, while their eyes bulged almost all out of their sockets. Their mouths were gaping, as if trying to be breath, but their throats were coated and filled with mucus. The look in their eyes wasn't even one of horror, just tired and desperate. The mare had her fore hooves wrapped around the filly as if it would keep the child alive. Obviously that hadn't happened.
Swift was backing up slowly, "I-I think we've found what we're looking for. Let's g-go." He sped off.
Phil took one last look at the sorry pair, then turned around too. "I'm with you on that." He followed, and not even halfway before they returned to the Captain, Phil was feeling a tickle in his throat.
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The Captain nodded when he heard the news, "I see." He turned to the Princess again, worry now fully in his eyes. The Princess too looked anxious, and turned to the two Guards.
"Good work." She said, "Return to Canterlot, and see a doctor immediately. Don't mention this to anyone." Both did, now fearing that they would meet the same fate as George's wife and child.
They met five other ponies on their way back, who in turn met at least five more themselves. Thus the pyramid of infection was truly being set in motion.
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Back at the Castle, Princess Celestia confided with her Captains and doctors, "We already know three are infected and have died." George had died in quarantine. "Who knows how many they met on their journey to Ponyville."
One of the older Captains spoke up, "It spreads too quickly to be stopped. It attacks quickly and efficiently, and kills within days. What else do we need to know? Just quarantine the town and be done with it."
One of the doctors spoke up, "Actually, I have some worse news." they all looked nervously at him. His voice shook as he spoke, "The last report from the labs was when the disease got out of control. They had researched it enough to get this much." A deep but weak voice came from a communicator he was holding:
"Disease marked 848-AB is conclusively a deadly disease that kills within days and spreads to almost no end. No cure has been discovered, and probably never will be. This message is probably the last, and it needs to be known. Should this disease escape, it will kill 99.4% of world population within a month. I repeat, 99.4% population will die within a month. Images are being sent also, to show the extremity of thi-" the message cut off with a thump. A slide show began to play and parts of the facility showed up. There was the cafeteria. Ponies in white coats were slumped over on tables, in bowls of their own food, collapsed on the ground, and even balanced against walls. All had the looks of the George's family. Then it flashed to a workout room. Ponies were slumped next to benches, treadmills, Some had dumbbells collapsed on their chests.
Everyone turned away when it flashed to the labs where the disease was being researched. A few ran from the room and one threw up right then and there. Being the most exposed to it, the scientists had gotten the worst effects. It seemed that their whole bodies were bloated to the point of explosions, and that's just what happened. Some were bloody messes with guts bits of their bodies all mangled and torn and spread everywhere.
Celestia turned away from the sight and the message shut down. Slowly the others returned and began talking all at once and Celestia shouted for silence. "I see your reasoning for quarantining the town, Thrush." the old Captain grunted. "But there is a problem." All stared at her in tense silence. "How many ponies have left Ponyville since we left?"
The others gasped at this, and Braun spoke up. "Don't forget those who brought the bodies back. If the disease spreads as easily as it's let on to..." he trailed off and let the others piece the rest together.
They all looked in horror at each other, and all at once came to a realization. This was the beginning of the end.
Chapter one: The Process.
Author's Note: I am obviously not as good a writer as Stephen King, so it will be different from the real book in many ways. That is all.
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The next day, Twilight was walking through the streets of Ponyville with Spike, and she was talking with him about poor George Canteron.
"He was delirious and kept mumbling something about a disease. He kept on coughing and going up to ponies and asking about his family." Twilight said, worry in her voice.
"What do you think really happened?" Spike said.
"Well, he was obviously sick, but the search for his family..." Twilight said.
"You told me," Spike said, "They found his family, but they... were dead. And Canteron was also dead by the time they got to Canterlot." Spike said with slight boredom.
"Yes. Celestia looked worried when the two soldiers reported the condition of the family. She looked as if she knew what was going on."
"Did you ask?" Spike asked.
"Of course not! I didn't feel that it would be... right." Twilight replied.
"Oh, come on, Twilight, you can't go on not knowing. I know you! You'll be itching with curiosity before you know it!" Spike snapped angrily.
"Of course I will Spike! I can't take it! Does Celestia know what the man had?" Twilight shouted back.
"I bet she does, Twilight. Do you want to send a letter?" Spike produced a quill and scroll.
"Yes, Spike. That would be great." Twilight looked up and saw Sugarcube Corner. She sat down at a table and began to recite.
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In Canterlot, Swift had just returned from a day-long test for any sickness, only to be reported that he didn't have any. Phil had caught something, though. He had left the hospital with a prescription and was hacking and coughing away. Swift was worried that he had caught what Canteron had had.
He reached a cafe and walked inside. He went to the counter and said, "I'll take a coffee. Decaf.Cream with it."
"Okay." The stallion behind the counter said. But then he went into a coughing fit, hacking wetly and thickly. Swift took a step back. Oh, someone tell me he just has a cold. He thought. If this stallion had caught whatever Phil had caught so quickly, who else had it?
Another bout of loud coughing erupted from behind him. Swift turned and saw a mare and her colt sitting there, coughing and sniffling, but not as seriously as the stallion.
Swift turned back to the stallion, who had begun to hand him his coffee. "Sorry about that. Just a cold, is all."
Swift threw some bits on the counter. "There. Keep the change." He left as quickly as possible. Walking through the streets, he noticed even more coughing from other ponies. He came to a decision. He was going to ask the Princess about this, to learn what exactly was going on.
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Twilight sat in Sugarcube Corner still, finishing her letter. "Your student, Twilight Sparkle." She finished speaking. Spike rolled up the scroll, took a breath, then sent the letter with his fire.
"I hope the Princess responds." Twilight said fearfully.
"I want to know too." Spike said.
Twilight jerked her head up suddenly. She had heard a cough. She turned around to see Applejack leading Applebloom, who was stumbling along and sniffling. She went up to them, "Hey, Applejack. What's the matter?"
Applejack turned to her. "I don't know, sugar cube. She just started like this in the night." her voice was laced with worry.
"Hmmm." Twilight was thinking. "Did you see a stallion yesterday that was coughing and asking about family?"
Applejack started. "Yes. Why?"
Twilight and Spike exchanged a worried look. "Come with me." Twilight said.
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The Doctor was worried. An itch had been going up his spine for some time, and now he saw why. Ponies had come in all day, and all were coughing. He left his store early to see if anyone else was sick. His worries came to be. Everywhere he looked, there was at least one pony coughing in every place. He worriedly ran up and down the street, looking for someone who wasn't sick.
He found three. Applejack, Twilight, and Spike, who were carrying Applebloom with them, her coughing weak.
He ran up, his usual calm nowhere to be found, "What's happened here? Why is everypony coughing?"
Twilight stared sadly at him. "I don't know, but it's got Applebloom." At her name Applebloom tried weakly to raise her head, then flopped it back down. Applejack cast a worried glance at her sister, then turned to Twilight. "Twilight, you said that you thought Princess Celestia knew something about this, didn't you?"
Twilight nodded, "Yes, I sent her a letter earlier about it. She hasn't replied yet, but-" she had just made it happen. Twilight was cut off as Spike burped out a flame which became a scroll with Celestia's seal on it. He read as follows:
My Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle,
I am sorry to say that I do know what is afflicting my little ponies. I am sending some guards your way right now.
Princess Celestia
Spike finished reading and got a funny look on his face. "I wonder why she didn't tell us more."
"That will be answered at the castle." a gruff voice said.
The group of five turned to see a squad of ten Royal Guards. "What's going on?" Twilight asked.
"Like I said, all will be answered at the castle." The next thing the ponies new, they were out cold.
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Twilight slowly opened her eyes to a cold, white room. Looking around, she saw no windows, no door. She was in a pristine white hospital bed, and had some equipment beeping off to one side.
There was a creaking noise and Celestia herself walked in, seemingly through the wall.
"I'm sorry, Twilight, I did not want to do this." Celestia looked ashamed. Twilight could only nod.
"You asked me what was the matter with the ponies, did you not?" Twilight merely nodded again.
"All right then. I'll tell you. But you must promise that nopony else knows. Can you keep this secret?" Another nod.
Celestia began to speak in a sad voice. "In a research facility far away, we had ponies researching a disease. We were hoping to use it against our enemies if the need be, but we were hoping that this project would remain in the testing stage. Sadly, it was not to be. Griffons have been causing riots lately, and are pushing into our lands, not wanting peace in the least.
"So I ordered my scientists to speed up their research. It... it got out of hand." Celestia drew in a deep, shaky breath, "They couldn't handle what it became, and so they tried to stop it. That was their worst mistake." Tears formed slightly in her eyes. "They... they were all killed... by a disease I created... I ordered them... to their deaths... and they did so unknowingly."
Twilight reached forward to comfort her teacher, but just then a voice called in from a speaker, "Princess, we have the reports on the quarantine."
"Good." The Princess said, and then turned to Twilight, smiling sadly. "I'll have more answers later."
The Sun Princess turned, and walked quickly from the room, but not before Twilight heard the muffled cough. Silence reigned once again.
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The guard saluted, "Princess, the updates on the quarantine of Ponyville." He gestured to a room identical to the one Twilight had been in, but with windows. And an actual door.
The Princess nodded and walked in. The scientists, all wearing protective suits, saluted once she was inside. The closest pointed to a table. "There you are, your majesty."
The Princess read over the details as another scientist recounted them out loud. "By the time we had actually gotten everyone in or around Ponyville in the town, more than half the population was dead. The quarantine could barely be continued when the citizens rioted once they saw the bodies being carried away. Now we know that almost every pony is dead. The survivors..." The scientist stopped, unsure how to continue. Celestia stared at him until he carried on, "Were the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Cake. They were found crawling over their parent, who were dead. They hadn't shown any signs at all, though, of the disease, but we didn't want to test on ones so young."
Celestia nodded, then murmured, "And Honesty's sister?"
The scientist gulped. This was what he had been fearing. "Dead, Your Majesty."
Celestia's spirits plummeted. She truly didn't know how to deal with that. In her dispirits, she allowed a small cough to escape.
Instantly the entire room froze, and stared at their leader. Before anyone could react, a scientist said quickly, "I'm sorry Princess, but this has to be done."
Celestia felt a needle enter her, and then all was black.
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Canterlot was a mess. Ponies ran screaming down the streets, homes burning. Ponies lay in the streets too, bloated and dead. It had become an all-out civil war amongst the ponies of the royal city. The Royal Guards had failed in their attempt to stop the crazed ponies, and now their bodies added to the growing pile.
A certain stallion we all know by the name of Fancy-Pants was staring into the dead eyes of one those Guards. He jerked up, only to be hit with a throbbing pain in his head. All he remembered was the ponies coming, and he and Fleur running, and then... Fleur!
Fancy Pants searched madly, and he finally found her. In half. Her body had been trampled and split. Now her blood seeped onto the cobblestone road. He slowly stepped through the pool and looked in vain for a light in her eyes. Nothing. Fancy Pants, now truly afraid again, began making his way to the castle.
All the while ponies fought, and died, and the disease was spreading.
