Virus

Virus

Chapter 2: Where is Everypony?

The train comes to a halt at the Ponyville Train Station. The train conductor leads everypony out of the train and helps them with their bags. Twilight Sparkle was the last to come out of the train. The conductor helped her carry her bags.

During the seven hour train ride, Twilight decided to write a letter to her friends telling them when she would be arriving. So now, she expected to see her friends at the stop, waiting for her to greet her. But surprisingly, they were not. Twilight stared around at all the other ponies meeting their families. Where were they? Twilight wondered. She looked around for them but they were nowhere to be seen. Twilight was surprised at her friends. Normally they would come and see her when she went on vacation. Well, maybe they had other plans today? Twilight decided. She picked up her bag and walked all the way to her home at the library. She stood in front of the tall tree, breathing in its oxygen.

"Ah, home sweet home." Twilight said. Twilight thought for a moment. Hmm... Maybe they're planning a surprise party for my homecoming? Twilight thought. I'll bet you all of my quills and parchment that they're inside of the library waiting for me to open the door! Twilight grinned happily and pushed open the door.

"Aww! Thank you! Thank yo-" Twilight stopped. She looked around, but nopony was hiding behind tables or anything! Pinkie Pie wasn't screaming surprise. There were no decorations or lights or anything! Twilight knew she was acting silly and that she shouldn't be so arrogant, thinking that everyday somepony would throw her a nice party.

Twilight set down her bag on her bed and looked out the window. It looked like a regular day in Ponyville. But where were her friends? Not even Spike was here!

Twilight left her house and headed over to Sweet Apple Acres. She noticed Big Macintosh bucking the apple trees. Applebloom was drawing in the road with some pink chalk. And of course, Granny Smith was asleep in her rocking chair. But Applejack was gone. Surely, she couldn't skip work! Twilight knew something was up. She walked up to Applebloom who looked up immediately.

"Oh, hey Twilight!" Applebloom says in her southern accent. Twilight smiles.

"Hello Applebloom. Have you seen Applejack anywhere?" Twilight asks. Applebloom shakes her head.

"Haven't seen her all day yesterday or today!" Applebloom replies. Twilight nods and thanks Applebloom as she leaves the farm.

She travels to the Carousel Boutique to see if Rarity was home. Twilight banged her hoof on the door of the dress shop. After about a minute or two, nopony answered. Twilight lifted one eye higher than the other, giving her a wondering expression. Nopony at the farm. Nopony at the dress shop. Where is everypony? Twilight asks herself. Twilight stares up into the cloudy, gray sky looking for her rainbow friend, Rainbow Dash. Of course, it was impossible for Twilight to see through the puffy clouds, all jumbled up together.

"Huh, funny. Those clouds sort of look like rain-" Twilight starts. All of a sudden, a loud flash of lightning and pouring rain sprinkles Ponyville. Twilight sighs and slowly trots back to the library. Passing through the town of Ponyville, the townsponies are all shutting up their booth's and getting ready to go home for the remainder of the day.

Twilight arrived at the library, Twilight hoped that she would see her number one assistant waiting for her, but of course, the library was bare.Twilight groomed her mane for bed and brushed her teeth. She glanced at her saddlebag sitting on her bed. She unzipped it to unpack her things and place them in the write spot. At the bottom, she came across the book from the old library. She stared at it for a moment, thinking about how ashamed she was for taking it. Twilight threw the book into a corner and ignored it for the rest of the night. She climbed into bed and, snuggled up underneath the covers of her single bed.

Twilight couldn't sleep at all. She spent the last three hours worrying about her friends. Have they abandoned me? Have they read my letter and are mad at me? Well, no, they can't be! I explained what had happened! They never would get mad about that! Or maybe, they were worried about me, so they got a train to Trottingham right as I was leaving! Twilight gasped at the thought. They would never be able to find me! They would be worried sick! Twilight was on the verge of tears. She could feel a lump in her throat. Oh no! I hope they are just out and about! I wouldn't want them to go through all the trouble of-

Out of nowhere, a small tapping noise broke Twilight's train of thought. Twilight sat up in her bed and studied the dark room. She looked out the window beside her bed to find Owlowiscious hooting outside. Twilight smiled to see that at least on of her friends were still here. She opened the window to let the owl in, but he just sat there, staring at Twilight with his shiny, black eyes. Twilight confusedly looked at Owlowiscious.

"Hoot." the owl softly spoke. Twilight wished she spoke animal at this very moment. Then, a light bulb suddenly flashed inside of Twilight's head.

"Animal translation!" she says. She rushes down the stairs and starts browsing through the bookshelves.

"Animal....Translation.....A.....A....Aha!" Twilight says. She pulls out a book titled 'Animal Translations by Polyflower' Twilight flips through the pages and lands on a page with the heading 'Owl Hoots'. Twilight goes back up the stairs and sits by the window. She screws up her purple face in concentration, her horn glowing purple. The same purple glow circled Owlowiscious. Twilight stared at the owl, hoping the spell had worked.

"Twilight! Twilight! The other five need your help! Come! Come! Follow me!" the owl says. Twilight's smile disappears, she looks at the owl with a worried look. Owlowiscious fluttered up into the dark, purple sky. Twilight stepped out the window onto the porch. She uses her transporting spell to follow the owl.

"I wonder where he is taking me." Twilight says as she pops from one place to another.

Owlowiscious and Twilight arrive outside of a small cottage. Little bunnies and other little woodland creatures all snooze in their little spots. The lights in the cottage were still on. Twilight could make out the outline of a figure of a pony carrying some kind of tray.

"What? Why did you take me here?" Twilight says to Owlowiscious.

"One of your friends needs your help." says the owl. Twilight runs into the cottage. The ponies inside all stare at her in shock.

"Twilight! You're back!" says an orange pony with a brown Stetson and three red apples on her flank. Twilight smiles a bit. Sitting in a chair in the corner of the room was Pinkie Pie, staring at the floor. Her hair wasn't as puffy as it usually was. It was all flat and droopy. Her eyes were red and her face was drenched in tears.

"Pinkie? What is it?" Twilight asks. Pinkie continues to stare at the ground, not bothering to answer her magical friend.

"She's not really herself... She hasn't spoken a word to any of us." Applejack declares. Twilight looks at Applejack with a sad face.

"What is going on? What's happened? Who is in trouble?" Twilight questions. Applejack looks down and then back up to Twilight.

"Come 'ere." she says. Twilight follows Applejack into a bedroom. Rainbow Dash, and Rarity are sitting in chairs beside a small bed that had a large lump inside of it. Twilight rushed over. She pulls the blanket off slowly to find her animal-caring friend curled up in her robe. She looked pale and almost as though she was dead.

"Fluttershy? FLUTTERSHY?!" Twilight yells. She turns and looks at the other three. "What is this? Why is she like this?" The ponies eyes fill with tears, even Rainbow's.

"While you were in Trottingham, Fluttershy came down with some weird disease that nopony knew even existed! So, therefore, there is no known cure..." Rarity explains. Twilight rubs her red eyes and pets Fluttershy's head. This was not what Twilight was expecting. She thought she would come home to her friends all happy and playful. Never did she think that this would happen! Twilight stares down through the corridor and looks at Pinkie Pie, still sitting in the chair. Twilight goes to comfort the pony. Twilight sees the look on Pinkie's face. Twilight sighs deeply. I can't stand seeing Pinkie so torn up... Maybe a cupcake can cheer her up? Twilight thought. She rushes out the door to Sugarcube Corner, the light stretches across the green grass. Twilight goes inside to find Mrs. Cake looking heartbroken but still in her cheerful mood.

"Ah, Twilight Sparkle! You're back! May I interest you in some cupcakes?" she offers. Twilight smiles.

"Yes please. They are for Pinkie Pie. She isn't doing so well." says Twilight. Mrs. Cake gives a look to Twilight that says she knows what she was talking about. She smiles, gives a big box of vanilla cupcakes with bright pink frosting to Twilight. Twilight happily takes them, and goes back to Fluttershy's cottage.

There at the cottage, she surprises Pinkie Pie with the box of cupcakes. Pinkie frowns at the box and punches them out of Twilight's hooves. Twilight was shocked. Never would Pinkie Pie turn down cupcakes!

"I'm not in the mood..." Pinkie mumbles, her voice scratching.

"But, Pinkie!"

"NO!" Pinkie Pie yells, throwing back her chair and pushing Twilight into the wall. "I DON'T WANT YOUR STUPID CUPCAKES, NOW DEAL WITH IT!" Twilight was on the verge of tears. The other ponies came into the main room. They gave a look of shock to Pinkie Pie who had sat back in her chair, sobbing even more.