Crystal Shards

The pair walked in silence for the most part. Forest deep within his thoughts revolving around his parents while Jim focused back on the thing once more. This wasn't new, in fact there is a plan for this when it would happen. When he was in ruling for his short years this new phenomenon came like a plague. Ponies working so close to the dark shards started to become sick, soon leading to cold shivers and lastly losing their color. It was always a soft pink, with them losing their hair and the eyes slowly darkening until all was left was an endless void.

These things had a name but Jim could not remember it. After a short time the doctors realized that shards were growing on them, effectively making ponies, into living dark shard farms. No matter how many shards you broke off, within the next day they would grow back twice the size.The infected ponies themselves were harmless, slowly walking around like a newborn with no clear goal. It was the shards that were dangerous as when you got close to them they could infect you. The most morally correct way when dealing with these ponies were to clear their body from shards and then put them in a cage to protect everyone else, or you could just outright kill the host of the shards forcing the shards to shatter instantly.

While they knew how to deal with them, they knew very little about them. They would get sick, start to slowly go quiet, shards would form, and soon they were mere foals walking around doing nothing in general. What would make them dangerous were the shards on them forcing others to quarantine them. Few ponies have tried to talk to them, most assumed all brain function was set back to foal status and mere herd like animals, much like their prehistoric predecessors. The ponies had some mental capacity to mimic an action, but after a short while the motion would die out and they would wander again. The most interesting thing everyone seemed to point out was that all of the infected ponies had their mouths slightly open, though many studies showed they breathed in through their nose and exhaled from their mouths. When they exhaled it was a slow and steady flow.

All in all these ponies were harmless, besides the black shards, merely big foals. That did nothing to stop others from getting scared of them. These infected ponies were eerily quiet, softly shuffling anywhere undetected. With their eyes always open and mouths slightly agape they made a quiet but powerful force in a room. Slowly they would turn their heads, watching you, mimicking you, studying you. Eyes never blinking, mouths never closing, sleep was non existent to them. The most disturbing ones they found were the actual baby foals being infected. They acted just likes foal, but soulless. Being so small and quiet, they would scared ponies and make them pass out when they were discovered. A popular story was when the first baby infected foal was found on the back of a pony. Apparently it was there the whole time and when he turned around to get something in his saddle bag his face was level with the baby's face. He passed out and emptied his bladder.

Jim was pulled from his thoughts as Forest pointed out that they were here. Wherever here was.