Chapters "It's been a few weeks since we last heard from the Griffon Kingdom. We are unsure of what has happened to them, but we intend to find out. We've been repeatedly attempting to raise contact, but all attempts have ended in failure." Princess Celestia had called members of a scouting unit of the Royal Guard, consisting of 10 ponies, to discuss plans. "I need you to travel there and find out what happened to them. Sweep in, collect data, and report back."
"So... what do you think happened?" One of the guards asked his squadmates.
"I think that they may be shutting down the borders. That last train still hasn't arrived yet. Maybe they canceled it?"
"Well, we'll find out soon enough. Let's get a move on."
The team deployed and took to the skies, observing the scenery below them. It was a real sight, seeing towns in the distance, as well as small patches of trees. Small rivers, and even animals going about their lives. Of course, not your average pegasi would be able to spot details, but it was these pony's jobs. Not only were they trained, but their gear helped out too. The scouts themselves had a light weight version of the royal guard armor. It looked pretty similar, but wasn't as thick, and provided more mobility. They were also equipped with goggles that improved vision slightly, and they had an arsenal of a simple armor implanted spear, which could recede under a wing. There would be a lot of flying from here to the Griffon Kingdom.
The scout unit was nearing the border. They crossed the wall, and quickly dived into clouds, as not to seem suspicious. They moved the clouds swiftly to a settlement they saw. It was a large town, with some mills here and there. The city had a tall brick wall on its outskirts... but something that had the unit worried... was that there was absolutely nothing on the streets. It was dead silent...
"Where is every... eh.. griffon?" Asked one of the units, poking his head out of the cloud to get a better view. The rest of the team also stuck their heads out, considering nothing was there to see them.
"Let's go a bit lower, so we can get a better view". The commander said, and the team descended, leaving the clouds behind.
They landed in the streets, scanning the area. It looked like a storm had swept through. Trash lay everywhere, and some shop windows were shattered, and houses were boarded up, or the door had been broken down. Inside of the houses, which would usually be lit up, were dark rooms that, as far as they could see, were ransacked. The odd gas torches that the griffons used looked as if they had had been burned out for a while. Another thing they noticed, was that not a single peep could be heard. No birds, or animals. It's as if everything just up and left the entire area.
"Alright, I need you three to look into some of these buildings in the residential area, and you 3 to go to the capital building, and check the hospital to see if you can find any kind of data on what may have happened. The rest of you, come with me. We'll see if we can find anything that could tell us where they all went." The commander was feeling uneasy about the whole situation, so he planned to leave soon.
The three assigned to the residential picked their first house. It was two stories, with a balcony entrance. Unlike houses in Equestria, Griffons had their entrances on the second floor, that way any rabid creature that wandered into the city wouldn't break into anybody's house. They all flew up to the entrance. Peering into the window to see if it was safe, they decided it was alright to enter.
The building looked relatively well kept, apart from a knocked over table, and lots of dust. After they searched the living room, which was upstairs, they dispersed to check rooms and cover the house faster.
One guard found a bedroom. He opened the door to reveal a child's room. Obvious from the toy chest in the corner and the small bed. The room was empty, and looked as if it hadn't been touched. One thing that was obvious though, was that the door had a splintered dent in it, not visible from the other side. He also noticed that the window was gone, having been shattered, with shards of glass on the floor underneath it. The thing that was off, however, was that there seemed to be some small red splotches. He barely noticed them at first. Taking a closer look, it seemed to be dried out blood. Gazing out of the window and onto the street below, he saw a few more shards, and little droplets that faded further down the street. He walked into the hallway, ready to report what he found.
The other guard was checking the kitchen, which was pretty normal looking, apart from there being a knocked over knife rack, as if someone desperately tried to grab for one. They also had what appeared to be a blood trail, leading up and out into the hallway. Following it, he walked through the door, and stopped, not wanting to follow it any further alone. He looked to his right to see his squad mate, sitting by the room door.
"Hey, guys, come see this! Hurry up!"
The last guard was looking through the bathroom, finding the tub filled with water. It was a trick he learned once, seeing how in the event of disaster, it would be a good idea to fill the tub to have a good amount of water available. "Someone was expecting a disaster..." He left the room quickly though, off to see what his squad member wanted.
The three of them stood out in the hallway, staring at the blood trail that led down into the basement. The blood trail had been droplets at first, but nearing the stairs turned into streaks, implying that the owner fell down the stairs. It wasn't hard to see, but the trail didn't stop at the bottom. They decided to descend together, and investigate what happened.
As they entered the bottom room, they found it was a somewhat simple storage basement. The smell was atrocious, and it was too dark to see very far. Luckily, each one of them carried a special magic flare, that was usually used as a distress beacon, but could serve as a light source. They lit one, and it was bright enough to view the entire room.
"What the.... jeeze" Was all one of the guards could mutter, as the other two were speechless. He took off his goggles as to not have to see it in such a detailed image. There was a dead griffon in the corner of the room, decayed, and somewhat skeletal. It's bones looked broken in some places, and the wing was bent to a painful looking angle, and there was old, dry blood next to it, confirming it to be the source of the trail. It looked like it was there for quite a long time. They all suddenly got tense, and cautious. Their minds raced with thoughts on how the griffon had met it's end, and also made them wonder if the same fate bestowed the rest of the town.
The most off putting thing to them, however, was the rats.... The dead rats, surrounding the body. It's not uncommon for rodents to feed off remains, but they were all dead... They had all looked as if they killed each other. The guards approached it, to see what may be causing the rats to die.
"We need to get out of this place and tell the commander what we found."
Just as they turned around, they heard scurrying. They turned around to see two rats exit from a box, and approach the body. The other rat was examining the bodies of the others. One rat bit the remains of the griffon, trying to feed.
"Ugh, I don't think my stomach can take this", a guard said, and turned to walk back upstairs.
"But he's not eating it.. he just bit it... and stopped..."
The rat fell on it's back, not shortly after biting the body, and began having strange muscle spasms. It was as if the thing was having a seizure. It started bleeding from it's eyes, and it's nose. It soon got up, as if nothing had happened. The other rat ran up the stairs, being frightened at the site of the death of another one of it's species, seeming to have identified the cause of death of the others. What confused the guards, however, was that the rat was very much alive, as it had extremely rapid breathing, for a rat...
"What's wrong with it?" One of the guards asked, worried about it's condition, and if it could be linked with the griffon.
"I don't know, let's just get out of here already."
The guards turned to walk up the stairs, but the rat followed them. The rat opened it's jaws wide, and sunk its teeth into the guard's hind leg.
"Ow! The thing bit me!" The scout shouted, and kicked it with his hind leg. The rat flew back, dead.
"You might want to get that checked, you know. Rats can carry a lot of bacterial infections."
"Yeah, I know, but I...." The guard was interrupted by something that was building up in his throat. He suddenly stiffened his posture, lurched forward, and heaved out blood all over the floor. He also started bleeding from his nose, and the corners of his eyes.
"Woah! Are you okay?" The other two were starting to panic a little, and were concerned for their fellow pegasus.
The only thing he could do was mouth a few gargles and crackles. Breathing heavily, he suddenly fell to the ground, and started shaking violently, letting loose a scream that caused the others to become extremely uneasy. The whites in his eyes became extremely bloodshot, and red flooded them, having blood vessels in his eyes burst. He stopped his spastic movements, and got up. He turned and looked at the guards.
Another rat emerged between the two guards and the one who was bitten. The bitten guard suddenly leaped forward at a fast speed, grabbing the rat in his mouth, and squeezing it in his jaws. It's bones snapped and it's organs were crushed, killing it. The other two guards quickly ran up the stairs, scared that they may be attacked. The infected guard followed closely behind. Just as they took off through the door and off the balcony into the skies, the infected gripped the one of their tails with his teeth, grabbing the back legs of the guard with it's front. The guard wasn't trained to carry another pony, and soon they started sinking towards the ground below. He started kicking and flapping harder, but couldn't get higher, and he was starting to exhaust himself. The other guard didn't notice, and swiftly flew to the area where his commander was.
As the guard touched down with the infected, he tried bucking the infected off of him. He hit it in the face, but it just took it like a sack of grain, and leaped back over the him. The guard grabbed his attacker's arm, and swung him over onto the ground, being trained for close quarter combat. The infected got back up though, and tackled the guard onto the ground, and started slamming his hooves into the guard's face. The guard managed to block one of the punches, and spun over to pin the infected down. He finally had it down, but he didn't expect it to spew blood in his face. He quickly backed off the infected and rubbed at his eyes, finding himself blinded. He swung his hooves in the air, trying to fend off his attacker, only his attacker wasn't attacking anymore. He calmed himself down, realizing his attacker was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief, only for it to end with coughing up blood, before he found himself on the ground, with his limbs flailing.
"Commander! We have to leave now! I found out what happened to the griffons, and why they're all dead!" The guard was hyperventilating.
"Wait... they all died?"
"More than likely!"
"Where's the rest of your team?"
"One of them went insane! One second he was fine, the second, trying to murder us! It started... it was that rat... It infected him... it was sick, with some kind of disease... a disease of madness, it made him go mad... I think he got the other guy." The guard started to calm down, after explaining what had happened.
"Alright, you two, I want you to go to the hospital, and the capital building and get the rest of the troops to here, we're leaving. We have what we came for, and stay together! Don't leave each other's sight. remember, stay airborne, if the 'infected' take to the sky, do evasive strategies, and work together... just like training." With the commander's orders, they were off to regroup their unit.
"The rest of us, wait here. If the others do not return within an hour, we're leaving."
The commander heard the other guards pestering the surviving guard with questions about what he saw, but in the distance, he heard some odd noises. He looked out and saw the two guards, who were flying quickly to get to their destination. He felt safe, hearing the noises from the right, but at the same time unsafe, as whatever was making that noise was heading in their direction, and the noise sounded oddly like the clopping of hooves. The noises started to get closer. They were definitely ponies.
"Everybody, shut up and hit the dirt. Drop down really low, as low as you can." The commander whispered quietly. As he said that, he saw a bloodied pony, in a royal scout uniform, galloping at a unusual speed, with it's wings splayed for added speed. Shortly after, he saw another one, running in the same direction, with a red face, and he recognized who both were, or who both use to be. They were going left from where he was looking, following the team he had sent to regroup the others. As soon as they were gone, the group started talking about what they saw.
"Did you see that? It's contagious!"
"Keep your voice down. Do you want them coming back?"
"Is this what happened to the griffons?"
"We need to get out of here!"
All the guards were in a state of shock, amazement, or terror. The commander was speechless, and didn't know if he wanted to take what he had to leave the town, or wait for the rest of the group. Now having some idea of what he was dealing with, and what may have happened to the griffons, he tried to make a plan.
"Okay, team, I know what we're dealing with looks bad, but we'll make it. We'll take to the skies, and try to get to our other teams before the infected do. If we can get the search parties out of those buildings fast enough, there won't be any risk of spreading the disease, as these infected will most likely die out like the griffons in this town did. Let's go!"
With that, they took to the skies, and sped as fast as they could to the hospital.
Once they arrived at the hospital, they quickly burst open the doors and called out for their comrades to regroup as soon as possible. The hospital looked like it was the location of an extremely chaotic event. Gurneys were scattered around, and many of the doors were broken off their hinges. The commander called out to anything that may be inside, and within a few seconds, three guards came down, one having a gauze wrapped wing, implying he hurt it. They also had lots of written files.
"Oh no... this isn't good.... This is terrible." The commander was now panicked, seeing as one of the scouts could not fly...
"What's wrong, commander?" Asked one of the guards.
"Him. He can't fly. What are those files?"
"These files are case files from an extreme influx of patients a few days before we lost contact. Why is he not being able to fly a bad thing? What did you find?"
"Look... I wish I had time to explain, but we need to leave now. We have what we need to know, but him not being able to fly might be the very death of him. Something bad happened here, and it's still in motion. We need to get to the others, and get out."
The guards were confused, but obeyed.
They had to carry their injured teammate with two others, and had to go a bit slower as not to drop him. They soon found themselves upon the capital building, and it was pretty big. As they all went through the door, they found it opened 3 feet before hitting something. They all stepped inside, and saw a guard there tending to his other guard mate.
"Where's the other?" The commander asked.
"He's... somewhere. We don't know where he went."
"So what happened in this place?"
"From the looks of it, it was a place of last resort. The door was barricaded and there were shelves and locked doors everywhere. The building also seems to be collapsing in random areas."
"Well, I can't afford to lose anyone else. We need to leave now. We can't carry any more wounded ourselves. We can take the train."
The group of surviving guards had to take it on foot to the train station, that was, lucky for them, opposite of where the hospital was, so chances of encountering the infected were pretty low. As for the other team they sent out, they would signal them with flares once they got to the train station.
The walk to the train station was... disturbing. As they neared the train station, they found something not many of them had seen on the trip so far.... Bodies. Lots of bodies. It was as if the griffons were so desperate to escape, but it was in vain. Lots of the bodies had broken wings... It worried the injured guards. What if these griffons died because of their wing injuries? What if this gets to Equestria? What of the earth ponies and unicorns?
They powered up the train with coal, and readied it for departure. They shot their flare into the sky, to signal the guard team that was now, hopefully, waiting for it at a high altitude.
The two guards who had been searching through the hospital had gotten there, and walked inside.
"Hello?! Is anybody here?!" One of the guards had shouted, hoping to get an answer. He got no reply. The two guards walked further into the hospital, to find their team. They had stopped dead in their tracks as they heard a bang at the door.
They both looked behind them, to see the door shaking after multiple thuds struck it. It wasn't long until the weathered door gave out from the headbutting infected. The guards quickly rushed to the hall door, and shut it. They both started shoving tables, stools, and shelves against the door, hoping it would hold. They could see the two crazed infected trying to bang the door down.
"How do we get out now!? We're trapped!" One of the guards said to the other.
"I don't know how we get out. Maybe there's a window somewhere?"
"That door won't hold forever, let's not waste time!" The guards started retreating further into the hospital, trying to put distance from the doors, in case they did break. They couldn't hear the thumping anymore, but didn't assume that they stopped trying. They hurriedly checked every door, but the majority of them were locked, due to a lock down that had been placed.
They suddenly heard some clattering from the other side of the building, and started trying locks faster and faster. One of the guards reached for the handle, and it fell off. It would have been funny to him, but not in this situation. He pushed the door open swiftly, and found a window there.
"Hey... come here, there's a window." He whispered to his partner.
"We're gonna have to make some noise to break it."
The guards decided that they would break the window to get out. The guard leaned on his front legs, reared his back, and kicked the window enough to shatter it to the frame. The shards hit the floor, creating an echo through the building.
The infected could be heard right around the corner.
"Hurry! Get through!"
The guards had underestimated the speed of the infected, and the two bloodied ponies charged into the room. They both attacked one of the guards at the same time. He had punched the first infected away, but didn't expect the hard buck to the side from the other. He fell on the ground, losing balance from standing on his hind legs. The two infected started to trample him, intent on killing him.
The other guard grabbed his partner's arm in a grip, and tried dragging him away from the infected ponies. The guard in the middle started to cough blood from having his ribs crushed from the force of the infected trampling his body. The infected pulled harder, and he was losing grip. The other guard realized he couldn't win this, and flew through the window, seeing a bright light in the distance. Knowing what it was, he went to it, but worried if it was a distress call, rather than a rally, which he had hoped for. He sped to the source, wanting to leave as quick as possible.
The commander didn't have to wait long to see the scout speeding towards them. He landed ungracefully, and was shaking from fear.
"Where's your partner?" The commander asked.
"I... He's gone... They got him."
"They infected him?"
"No... They just killed him. Didn't bother to spread it..."
"Okay, well, let's just get this train running. I can't afford to lose everypony." With that, they boarded the train, and it started moving. It was already scheduled to Canterlot, but never made it, for obvious reasons. They were unaware of the few animals dwelling on board, though...
Twilight Sparkle had awoken before sunlight. She had new, interesting assignments to do, now that she was a princess.
She was scheduled to head far north, to serve in a research expedition in the ice caps as head scientist, and ambassador to the locals, if necessary. Even though Celestia had postponed the event from issues she was getting with some unknown events taking place near the border, she still awoke early, just in case.
She was actually kind of happy that she was able to stay home for so long, expecting to be thrown into one job after another. She went downstairs to fix herself some breakfast.
As she was preparing, Spike walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.
"Here Twilight, this is for you. Woke me up just now... I'm going back to sleep". Spike handed Twilight a letter, and went back upstairs.
Twilight opened the letter, expected it to be a call to the expedition she had been waiting for, only it wasn't. She started reading it.
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
News pertaining to the northern border has gotten to us in a rather strange form. We have to inform you that the expedition is no longer up for debate. It has been cancelled entirely. The border will be completely shut down, and nothing will be allowed to cross it on either side. We have recovered a train from the Griffon Kingdom, and will be inspecting it shortly. We have reason to believe that something bad has happened, because from the outside, the train looks to be in bad shape, and we can't tell what's on board. We have to cancel the trip for you, and our archeologists' safety.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
Twilight was glad to see she wouldn't need to go to Canterlot any time soon. She was a little worried about what may be happening up there, but didn't really bother with it. At least she would be able to stay with her friends. Considering the sun hadn't come up yet, she decided she would go to observe the starry night sky, so she wouldn't be bored.
Captain Shining Armor was leading the search mission of the train that had arrived earlier in the morning. He and his guard unit were in a full set of their finest armors, with their lances ready to be deployed.
"Alright, get into position!" Shining armor ordered his troops. He knew common protocol, and knew this could be a huge threat. Unicorn guards stood at a distance from the cart, ready to fire range spells if any kind of hostile creature emerged. The Earth pony guards were at the ready, in case something needed to get hit hard. The pegasi were waiting in the air, to either drop down, or deliver quick word to the princesses.
The unicorns used their magic to open the doors from a distance, and then they waited. After waiting for a few minutes, nothing happened.
"Okay, search the train". Ponies from each group split into different carts. What they found was disturbing to them. Dead bodies of passengers. They were skeletal, and old, obviously having been there for a long time. After conducting full searches of each car, each team went to the captain to report what they found.
"Okay, you, get to the princesses as fast as possible, and tell them of our discoveries." Shining Armor commanded one of the pegasi flyers. He nodded, and flew off.
"Hey, captain! We have ponies! It's the missing scout unit, or what's left of them." One of the troops called. Lots of guards rushed towards the cart, but only a few went in, Shining included. In the train were a few bodies. One of them looked broken, one of them was almost completely red... and the last was breathing.
"He's alive."
"Get him to the hospital wing of the guard barracks, and make it fast! We need to find out what happened to these guys." Shining called for a pegasus to tell the princesses they were needed urgently, and he complied. Shining Armor didn't have to wait long, as the princesses both arrived quickly.
"What have you discovered?" Celestia asked.
"We have found... lots of bodies. We don't know what their cause of death was. We've also found some ponies on board, that missing scout unit. Only one of them were alive, but was in a coma, or something."
"Well, we'll figure it out soon."
Shining, Celestia, and Luna had all gathered in a secured medical operation room to watch behind a glass window, in the observation area. A few doctors in a room on the left of them were examining the body of one of the more preserved griffons, and some doctors in the one to the right were trying to revive the pony, who was in a coma. They waited patiently for any information that could come up. They didn't have to wait long.
"I've found something very interesting." The lead doctor in the left room stated. "We have determined that this griffon's cause of death was... starvation. Something else we found was that there are virus cells in... what's left of the blood. It's an unrecorded pathogen, so we don't know much else. Not many are still living, but they are there."
Celestia was intrigued. "Isolate that sample, and see what it does. We need to know if the virus is deadly, and if it can spread to ponies."
The doctors took a sample of the virus, and brought it to the labs, also being careful not to make direct contact with it, or the body, as they brought the body to a remains disposal. The Doctors in the right were starting to make some progress too.
"Princess, we have discovered something! The cause of this pony's coma is exhaustion, and lack of oxygen to sustain what he was pushing his body to do. He also lost a lot of blood. He's starting to breathe a bit quicker though. He also has an unrecognized pathogen, possibly the same disease." The pony on the operating table suddenly started to breathe at an above normal speed. His eyes opened, revealing deep reddish eyes, but his irises were normal colored, yet had blood vessels easily visible through them. He surprised the doctors when he got up, and slipped down onto the floor, seeming dizzy. He got up quickly, and was standing as if nothing had happened.
"Are you okay?" One of the doctors asked.
He spun his head around towards the source of the sound. Shining got a bad feeling, and got into a defensive stance. In the room, the patient started to pop joints, and stretch his limbs. His nose started to bleed. The pony then leaped over the table to the doctors, the doctors having little time to react, were taken by surprise.
"Detain him!" The head doctor yelled as the others rushed to pin the pony onto the table. They tried to tie restraints, but his limbs were too unpredictable to get a hold on. One of the doctors was kicked in the face, and quickly backed up, holding a hoof to her nose. The infected scout grabbed one of the doctor's arms in it's mouth, not letting go.
"Get out of there!" Celestia yelled, worried that the doctor's lives were in danger. "Luna, I want you to start getting citizens away from this building. Shining, get your guard to form a perimeter around this place. That pony... he isn't normal. It could be... that disease."
Soon enough, there were two infected, and the doctors fled to the door. They tried to close it, but the two infected seemed to be stronger than all of them. They were fighting over the door.
The doctors in the operating room were kicking at their attackers by the door, trying to stop him from getting out. The infected ponies didn't give up, and managed to grab one of the doctor's hooves in his mouth, dragging him back into the operating room. He started screaming. One of the others tried grabbing his hoof, but his grip quickly slipped, and the doctor was dragged inside. The other doctors slammed the door shut and locked it, quickly fleeing the building. Celestia was evacuating the other doctors from the the room across, and turned her attention to the infected ponies. One was struggling to get to the doctor, for the doctor was pushing up against it with all he had, holding back the punches and kicks of the infected, keeping it facing the wall. He started getting weaker, and his grip loosened. The infected used this to gain leverage, and coughed up blood onto the doctor's face. The infected then stopped bothering with the doctor.
Celestia was trying to figure out a way to get the doctor out of the room, but decided not to, as he started having spasms, and his appearance quickly changed to something similar of the other pony. She decided to leave quickly, for she had a country to protect from this huge threat.
The guards outside were waiting silently, ready for the infected to exit. Soon, the doors opened, as Celestia emerged. Every single guard sighed in relief then.
"Don't let your guard down, it's not over." Celestia warned the guards, and she quickly flew to her castle. The guards returned their attention to the doors. They waited for a few minutes. The door was suddenly pushed open hard, as a pony emerged. It was the scout they found on the train. Shining Armor saw the way he looked, and wasn't going to take a single chance.
"Blast it!" As those two words were shouted, magic beams shot from the wall of guards, hitting the infected pony in every open area. It fell on its front knees, and over on the ground, dead. The door opened again, revealing a doctor. He was bloodied as the pony they just killed. He was followed by another... and another, and another. There were merely 10 of them.
"Take them all out!" Some of the guards didn't want to fire. They saw what they were doing as slaughtering innocents. They had a quick change of mind as all the doctors charged at them, with guttural yells and screaming. Some of them took hits well. Others took hits in the legs and fell down, slowed to a crawl. A few hit dead center in the head, killing them instantly, but all it took was that one infected. He reached one of the guards in the line, and tackled him, sinking his teeth into the guard's arm. More guards rushed to his aid, attempting to pry it off.
They weren't paying attention to one of the other infected that had well working front legs. It drug itself towards the crowd, and bit the hoof of one of the guards. The guard was startled, and lucky that it only bit the armor boot. He jumped backwards before stabbing the infected in it's back, in an area where the heart was suppose to be. The infected soon stopped breathing, and died.
He returned his attention back to the guards in the mess of other guards, hoping he could help. Through the mass of guards, he noticed that the one that they had tried to pry off the other guard had its attention focused on another. The guard who was originally in the mess was spitting blood on anything that got close to it. Soon, there were more infected than there had been originally from the hospital.
"Disperse! Disperse! Fall back to the city! We can't let this get to the public area!" All the guards started running in the same direction, trying to prevent it from spreading, or to spread it further. Pegasi guard units swooped down, launching spears into anything they thought was hostile. This gave the other guards time to turn around, and fight.
They started to fire lethal magic spells into the mob of infected, but the infected were running extremely fast. They caught up quickly, and now the guards were in their original situation. Shining Armor knew he had to get back to the Princess. He turned to his second in command.
"Listen! I need you to take the battalion and follow the original plan! Be smart, and stay strong!" Shining quickly ran off to the castle.
"Keep your distance! Close your mouth, and squint if you have too!" The guard who had been appointed to command began to think of ideas that could counteract the strategy of the infected.
One guard found himself on his back, with an infected guard over him. He closed any opening he had, and tried to buck and kick the infected off of him. The infected realized what the guard was doing, and arched his elbow. He slammed his hoof into the guard's face. The guard's helmet took most of the force, but it was dented. The infected repeated this, over and over, until the helmet became deformed, and the guard was bleeding. The infected then vomited into the open wound, even if it was a small cut. The guard on the ground started foaming from the mouth, and then started coughing blood shortly after. He stood up, and ran after his prey.
The citizens in the north east wing of Canterlot could hear screams, and loud bangs. It made them walk a bit faster, as Luna was guiding them away from the area. They had heard that the entire area was under a threat, and wondered if they were under attack. Soon, out into the area came a few guards. They were unicorns, shooting magic bolts at an unseen enemy. A few other guards came running out, and started going towards the crowd. The gasps and talk could be heard, as some ponies stopped to stare. Others quickened their pace, and began going further down the road, away from the commotion.
"Get a move on! Get out of here, now! We've lost control!"
The citizens became frightened, and wondered what the guards had lost control of. They returned their gazes to the unicorn guards. Out from the direction they were shooting came a guard. He was bloody, and looked injured, as his helmet fell off at his speed. He leaped and tackled one of the unicorn guards, trampling his face until he stopped moving. The other unicorn guard turned to try and kill it, but just as he charged his beam, was tackled from behind as the shot flew into the sky. The infected on him bit into the guard's neck, ripping the skin off of it, leaving him to drown in his own blood.
People in the crowd became extremely frightened, and rapidly began to panic, and started stampeding through the streets, away from the infected. Pegasi took off into the skies, trying to escape the carnage below. The infected guards ponies started hot on their tails.
Luna had realized she lost control. The surviving pegasi guards had reported to her.
"Princess, the situation is out of control. They're headed to the city center. "
"We need to think of something to do, to get our ponies to safety." Luna thought on a plan, and figured it may work. It would require precise timing, but it was the only option, other than isolating the entire city, leaving all within the city to die.
"Okay, listen closely. I need a few of you to get the common guard patrols, and order them to assemble on the outer wall, above the moat. The rest of you need to guide ponies to the exit of the city. Close the bridge when you feel it is necessary."
"Yes, princess!" The guards quickly flew off to do what they were instructed. Luna flew to the top of the castle. She needed to talk with her sister about what they were going to do.
Luna flew into the sky, seeing just what was going on. She saw pegasi guards flying here and there, a mob flowing through the streets, leaving bodies in their wake, and the unsuspecting ponies, doing their average business. She could only hope they would save enough lives.
Celestia was preparing documents, orders, and issuing supplies and such to protect the other settlements of Equestria, in case the disease were to spread further. Canterlot was compromised, but that was because they hadn't been prepared in any way. Soon, some scientist had approached the princess with news on the disease.
"Princess, we've discovered some intere-" Celestia had interrupted them.
"All I want to know is how it can be stopped." Her voice was stern, and urgent. The scientist were a bit shocked, but understood why.
"We have no idea where to begin on fighting the effects. It doesn't work. Antivirals slow it down, but it fights them off. The virus itself seems to completely ignore the immune system. Even if a pony were to take antivirals, or other medicines, they would be in immense pain from the virus attempting to take over. They wouldn't be able to take the medicine for that long."
Celestia spoke again. "How does it spread?"
"It spreads through body fluid. Spit, blood.... all of it. If it gets ingested or comes into contact with any sort of opening, then it's already too late. The host is completely overtaken in a matter of seconds."
Celestia knew what she wanted to know. She issued guards that were heading out of the city to other settlements highly protective mask. She issued them light padded armor, to stop bites, and a light silk mesh around it, to block liquids. The bio-hazard teams she sent out were carrying face mask, and goggles to hand out to the citizens.
Luna informed Celestia of what she assigned the guards. "Sister, I have told the guards plans that may help evacuate and save many ponies. They are out to guide the fleeing to the city gates, and guard units are waiting, to help filter out infected."
"I hope that works." Celestia spoke solemnly, grabbing a scroll and quill. She wrote a letter to the new princess, and decided it was high time to raise the sun, as the darkness wouldn't really help the situation. She wouldn't be putting it down, for a while either. Not until this event blows over, for the same reason.
Twilight was looking through her telescope, at an odd, moving formation she had seen in the night sky. It was interesting to her, and she was writing about it. She looked back into her telescope, only to see a bright flash through it.
"What in the..." Twilight almost jumped back. She lowered the power of the telescope to the level of high powered binoculars. The flashes were coming from Canterlot.
'What's going on over there?' She thought to herself.
She could see Lights randomly flying off into the sky, and pegasi flying in multiple directions. The lights became very obvious as magic bolts, and something was clearly going haywire in the city. Twilight became concerned about what may be happening. The sun began to rise in the distance, and this calmed her a bit. She walked back inside, deciding that a letter to the princess asking what was happening would be a good idea. Just as she grabbed a paper, though, Spike ran up to her.
"Where were you? I got this letter, and it's really important!"
"What's it about?" Twilight asked, wondering if it was related to Canterlot.
"I don't really know, all I read were the big letters 'URGENTLY IMPORTANT' " On the top.
Twilight sighed. She skimmed through the letter, which she noticed looked like it was written without concern for neatness. The part that interested her most, though, was something about a new contagious virus. The scientist have dubbed it 'The Rage virus', until a real name can be chosen. They've already attempted to find a cure. Something else she read was that Ponyville will have teams of special guards arrive, her brother included, and a team of biohazard specialist. Ponyville may also be converted to a refugee sanctuary, and she is in charge of it. It also said to 'Stay with her friends, and work together. Be safe, and don't lose hope.'
This was Extremely worrying to Twilight. She thought about herself. She knew she always took up leadership roles when she and her friends were together, even before she was an alicorn. She hadn't really ruled anything before, and was now being put up to govern a rather large town. This virus was more concerning to her, however. She had read what the symptoms were, and became scared. She had no clue what she would do if the residents in Ponyville contracted it.
She tried to think of how she would start. Waiting around wouldn't solve any problems. She decided she would go to town hall, and talk to the mayor about gathering the residents of town in the town square to discuss what would be the best course of action until the guard arrived. This was going to be a rough time ahead.
The cliff face city of Canterlot was rumbling. Flashing lights and colors shot throughout the sky. It was like a vibrant light show, and seemed as if somepony was setting off fireworks. There wasn't a single trace of the smell of gunpowder, however. This is what unsettled the ponies that were frozen in place, staring in the direction of the commotion. If there was a celebration, then there would have been a city wide notification. If it were fire-works, the smell of fires and gunpowder would be noticeable, but there was none of that. The ponies of Canterlot had only experienced such events during the Changeling invasion, and the memories were making every single pony nervous. It didn't help to see squads of fully armed guards moving through, and small v-forms of pegasi flying in the direction of it all. This unsettled some, seeing so many guards deployed to one area, and made others feel safe, seeing as though the city learned from it's last mistake. Even with such a sense of danger, it was overwritten by curiosity, and they didn't move.
At least, they didn't movie until a large pegasi unit began to direct them in direction that led to the main entrance. The ponies knew they were being evacuated. It once happened when there were small scale earth quakes, and the city was in danger of becoming a massive rock-slide. They still wondered what the reason was. Were they being invaded? It seemed like the most likely assumption they could make. The ponies in the area began moving. They were too slow for the guard's comfort, and they tried to make them go faster.
The guards fighting off the infected were losing ground faster and faster, and distance between the line, and the evacuating populace was shrinking drastically. It seemed everything the guards tried was used against them, apart from magic and flight. Weapons were taken from guards, and used to beat them to death by the infected. The amount of infected was staying at a relatively stagnant number, while the number of guards were decreasing.
Suddenly, in the large group of evacuating citizens, the sounds from earlier were getting a lot louder than what they were previously. It was right behind them. They all turned around to witness pure carnage. The royal guards were being slaughtered, and screams of agony could be heard. The guard guiding them began to shout.
"Go! Go now! Follow the guide and don't stray!"
The entire crowd fell into mass panic. Ponies were galloping as fast as they could go. Screams and cries erupted through the streets as the crowd ran for their lives.
An infected managed to get through the guards, and began sprinting towards the crowd of ponies, closing the distance rapidly, and grabbing onto an unsuspecting individual. Screams of terror quickly turned to screams of agony, as the outbreak started spreading like wildfire. The guards were almost completely overwhelmed. The only thing they could do now is hope the ponies were fast runners, and try to get ahead of the stampede, getting ponies out of their houses to get out while they had a chance. Soon enough, it wasn't just the infected to worry about anymore. Ponies were so desperate to escape, they began trampling over each other, abandoning everything. Once the drawbridge shut, it was going to stay that way for a very long time.
An unsuspecting Cheerilee was leading her class through the Canterlot Museum. They had visited many times before, but each visit was for a different purpose. They were researching their favorite technological discoveries to do research projects on. Technology was expected to increase in the coming years, seeing as everything else was catching up with medical breakthroughs gradually. The little fillies and colts were looking at all the different exhibits, topic related, or not. Many of them found it to be boring, and wished they were home.
Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were looking at an exhibit of a cannon. It was a small scale model.
"I'm getting inspiration from this." Scootaloo remarked about the cannon. "Maybe we could build a cannon for the project! We'd get our cutie marks for sure!" She shouted with excitement.
"I don't think that would be a good idea. Remember what happened last time we tried to do something cannon-related?" Sweetie Belle mentioned, which made Scootaloo's smile fade.
"What about this contraption?" Applebloom brought their attention to a small model rocket, which a full scale version was being developed to see if it was possible to send objects to space via magic propulsion through raw gems.
"It could work" Scootaloo thought it would be a great idea. She inspected it, to see if it was awesome enough. She tapped the nosecone, and in fell over, managing to activate itself. It crashed out the window, to an unseen destination. They didn't hear it land anywhere.
"Oops".
Suddenly, a violent vibration could be felt, along with the sound of a soft boom. Heads turned to the window, as some ponies trotted up to see what was happening.
"Heh, double oops."
"I don't think that was the rocket." Applebloom stated, wondering what the real cause of the rumble was.
Suddenly, the city's emergency sirens began to blare loudly, and everyone in the exhibit room who hadn't been concerned over the rumble was now staring out the window. They sat, still-motioned. Were they under attack? The sirens never went off unless a major emergency was taking place. They all gazed out of the window, school foals and workers, and common goers alike. They noticed smoke starting to rise from behind a building. They hadn't noticed the large numbers of pegasi flying here and there, and more and more magic bolts could be seen entering view of the window. It was as if a war was taking place right outside. They heard the rumbling of what sounded like a mob, and screaming could be heard on the streets below. The visitors began to make their way downstairs, Cheerilee making sure her class was right on her tail, literally. She made every one of her ponies grab the end of each others tails, so they wouldn't get separated. Just as they were about to exit, a knock was made on the door.
A museum worker opened the door, and a guard was on the other side. It was a pegasus fast mover, but he looked shaken, and beat. He began to speak in a worried, urgent tone.
"It is of the utmost importance that every citizen that currently resides in this city is to follow the evacuation plan at once. They must move fast, and be alert and aware, and we require one hundred percent co-operation with the city guard. Please go!"
Visitors and workers began to scramble out, worrying for their own self preservation. They didn't know what was going on, but it didn't sound good. As the ponies left the building, each one leaving was more and more paced. One of the ponies leaving the building looked to her right, down the road. Her facial expression quickly converted to show obvious horror, as she fell to the ground from being startled, quickly flinging her limbs to get a grip, braking out into full on gallop in the direction that the mob could be seen running on the streets.
"C'mon! We have to leave now!" The guard shouted at the remaining ponies. Another pony was about to exit when the guard glanced over. The residents inside saw a blur hit the guard, pinning him to the ground. The blur was now identifiable as an infected mare. The guard was trying to push her off, but it wasn't working. She flailed her limbs wildly, smacking the guard in the head repeatedly, until he was starting to get dizzy. His grip faulted, and she grabbed his shoulders. She began to lift and slam the guard into the concrete, crushing his wings under his own weight. The cracking of bones could be heard, along with screams of agony, but the site was quickly cut off as the pony originally exiting slammed the door shut, putting the closing security lock bolts on.
Almost every student began to cry. A lot of the ponies began to tear up, simply out of shock or horror. They could hear screaming outside, and sounds of the ongoing chaos. Everyone in the room was panicking. Chatter and crying could be heard.
"What are we going to do?!" A mare's voice shouted up.
One of the security workers spoke up. "We can't just stay cooped up in here. C'mon, we can get out through the back doors. We can cut through the alleys and get with the rest of the citizens. It'll work," he said, looking brave.
Cheerilee spoke to her class. "Okay, listen to me. I know what you all just saw wasn't a very nice thing to witness, but you need to stay calm and collected. Don't let go of each other. Move fast." None of the children spoke, as they were all too afraid to let go of whoever's tail the held.
Cheerilee was telling them to be brave, and calm, even though she herself wasn't. It was obvious on her face. She was completely overwhelmed by stress, seeing what just happened to that guard. She almost wished she had a tail to hold on to. The thought of the guard couldn't escape her memory. She couldn't imagine if that would happen to any of her students. The thought made her feel sick. She could only hope they could escape safely.
The security guard reached for the handle, and opened the door. They all followed closely behind, shifting through the curves and corners of the alleys. Screams and thumping could sometimes be heard in the buildings above them, and from the streets beyond, but none tried to think about what may be happening behind the walls. They quickened the pace, hoping to beat the rest of the traffic to the exit. The expression of each pony's face was starting to gain hope at the site of the city square, knowing that the exit was close by.
That hope faded as an infected pony blundered around the corner. The crowd scrambled back, pushing and shoving to get to the back of the crowd. The security pony took out a nightstick, walking up in front of the crowd, ready to do his job. The infected ran up to him, trying to tackle him, but he was lucky enough to whack the infected with the baton making a hollow thud. The infected went off balance, before righting itself again. It once again charged towards the security pony. The security pony dodged the charge as the infected ran into a wall, scraping it's face pretty badly. In a fit of pure fury, it turned, and lunged for the security pony, grabbing the baton in it's mouth. It pulled it away, and took it in it's hoof. It chased after the security pony with a animalistic scream. The security pony turned and fled around the corner out of the alley. The majority of the group were relieved that the way out was now open. They all rushed towards the exit.
As the majority of the group blended into the crowds to escape, Cheerilee stopped to say something to her students.
"Listen, I know this is scary, but all of you need to hold on as hard as you possibly can. Don't let go for anything. Understand?" The class nodded, each one having either wet cheeks, or shaking. Cheerilee was extremely nervous, getting ready to delve into the chaos. She had no idea if they would end up getting through or not. She took a deep breath, and walked out into the town square. She wished she could close her eyes, but she had to guide the children to safety.
Cheerilee trotted at a fast pace, feeling a resistance on her tail. She went slow so her students could keep up, but not slow to the point of which they would get ran over. The majority of the class tried to close their eyes to shield themselves from the ongoing chaos, but a few held them open, unable to look away from what was happening around them.
Guard units were moving left and right, trying to combat infected with all they had. Ponies were being slaughtered, blood being strewn about. Buildings were ablaze, and sizzling bolts of magic flew in nearly every direction, impacting infected, impacting innocent ponies, and sometimes guards fired and stabbed their fallen comrades. Fights could be seen in buildings. Some ponies jumping... or being thrown out of windows, not surviving the fall. A horrid smell hit them like a brick when flaming ponies began fleeing out of a burning building, screeching as they roasted alive. It was sickening, in which some ponies were passing out. Healthy ponies were in such a hurry to escape the carnage, they were trampling each other. They were kicking and fighting to get out.
Cheerilee pushed and shoved her way through the crowd, hoping that they wouldn't be an obvious target. She saw something that horrified her. A small filly, bloodied, and very much alive, had a pony stuck on top of a counter. She was infected. The pony on the counter grabbed a broom and started beating it until it stopped moving. She got off the counter and galloped out of the window, only to smack into an infected. They fell to the ground, struggling against each other.
Sweetie Belle could feel Applebloom's tail slipping from her teeth. She tried to clamp harder, but the grip was fading. She opened her eyes to see where they were. She could barely see over the mob of ponies, but she could see under their legs. It was hard, what she saw made her turn her gaze forward. She could see the wall. It was right there.
Something jumped out over the crowd. And infected pegasus had leaped over, making her scream as it landed merely a meter away. It was about to lunge onto a pony before it was shot repeatedly by the unicorns up on the wall, searing the whole left side of the pony. It fell to the ground, dead.
Applebloom could feel the absence of a resistance on her movement, and a stronger pull. It took her a while to realize that her friends had lost grip. As much as she wanted to, she didn't open her mouth to say anything. She didn't want to see what had assaulted her other senses. She could only hope they wouldn't be harmed, and that they would be rescued.
Cheerilee felt it too, and was instantly heart broken. She wouldn't give up on what she had left, however. Not while they were this close to escaping. After managing to scramble through ponies to get over the drawbridge, Cheerilee finally stopped to catch her breath. She was far away from the bridge, and had... most of her class beside her.
"It's okay, we're safe now." Cheerilee convinced her class to let go, yet they still huddled around her and hugged close to her.
"Where's the r-rest of the class?" One of the students asked with a choked sob. Cheerilee knew where they were. She would try to go back to get them.
"Don't worry. Stay here with the guard ponies. They'll keep you safe." Cheerilee informed a guard to watch over them, and he trotted over to keep an eye out.
Cheerilee made her way back to the draw bridge, trying to get through the ponies that were shoving her in the opposite direction. She almost set foot on it when a guard pony stopped her.
"Halt, once through, nopony is allowed back into the city limits. This is a maximum tier evacuation. You will not go back!" The guard was strict. It reminded her of herself when addressing misbehaving students. Even though the guard seemed like he couldn't be convinced, she tried anyway.
"I have to get through, I still have kids in there!"
"Sorry, ma'am, but we can't allow it. We will try to get as many ponies as possible out."
Suddenly, another guard shouted from the wall. "We won't be able to keep the bridge open much longer. They're advancing too quickly!"
"Look, please let me through! It's half a class, and they're still in there!" Cheerilee wasn't gonna give up.
"No, this is my final answer. Further attempts will be reacted with force." The guard flared his wings to try and scare her off, but it didn't work. Cheerilee tried shoving past him, but he held her back. He found himself losing ground against her as she tried to get him out of her way. Applebloom saw her teacher trying to get past. She wouldn't have imagined her being brave enough to go back into something like that. The guard she was pushing strained to yell out something.
"Detain her!" Soon, other guards came and pulled Cheerilee away.
"They're too close! We have to close the bridge now!" The guard shouted.
"Then do it!"
The drawbridge began to raise as ponies became more urgent to crawl up the rising bridge. They were trying so desperately. Guards on the upper wall changed their firing rate from slow and selective to fast, and random. They were shooting everything else beyond the gate, to prevent the outbreak from escaping the city. The drawbridge began to close, and unlucky ponies were being crushed by the door. Eventually, the door shut completely, blood dripping out from the edges. The water in the moat beneath the bridge was slowly turning red.
Applebloom felt dead on the inside. She just escaped the most terrible thing she's ever had to deal with, still not being able to grasp the true horror of the situation, and her friends hadn't made it through the door with her. Cheerilee sulked back to the group with a saddened face, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. Looking around, she noticed that she wasn't the only one like this. A lot of ponies were crying their eyes out, and weeping. Some were smiling and hugging, happy they survived, and others still had their mouth agape. She, like everypony else, could only catch their breath, and sob.
Celestia stared listlessly into the city from her balcony. There was a large crowd of ponies forming at the entrance to the castle grounds, all shouting or pleading for entry. She could see them all, how they were scared, and angry. There would be nothing she could do for them. She could see figures in the distance coming towards the crowd. She couldn't tell if they were infected or not. Her vision was altered by the large shield dome surrounding the castle.
The once beautiful city, the one Celestia called home was completely devastated. She could see bodies littering the streets just a few blocks down, and further out, she could see pillars of smoke, and flames erupting from buildings. It was a long time since she had seen anything similar to this. Shining Armor was the one holding the shield up, but once he was deployed with his unit to Ponyville, the shield would go down. All remaining guard units within the castle were being deployed to ensure other city's and main settlement's safety in the event of panic, or outbreak.
She and Luna would be the last to leave the castle, ensuring everypony else had left safely. She decided it was time to proceed to the chariot launches.
______________________________________________________________________
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were hunched right next to their new assumed guardian. It was an earth pony stallion with a navy blue coat with a light blue main and tail. He had a book with a clover on the cover for a cutie mark. He was a random pony who had saved them from the streets after they were separated from the rest of their class, and they stuck with him, seeing as he was the only one they could really trust. All the ponies among the crowd were all shouting at whomever may reside inside the castle, angrily demanding entrance, or pleading. Crying could be heard among the crowd. Children were close to their parents, or whoever was left for them, and guards were trying to open the dome. Scootaloo noticed a few objects flying away from the castle from the inside. They were too big to be a single pony, and their were many of them. Not shortly after, the shield began to fall.
"Okay you two, climb up," The stranger said to the two fillies practically underneath him. They climbed onto his back and he quickly trotted into the castle. The rest of the crowd had stopped, looking for any signs of a pony. It was completely empty.
"They left us!" A pony shouted, which brought panic to the entire group. The guards among the group began organizing themselves, and tried to calm the crowd down. Many of the ponies began running further into the castle, and others began grabbing objects that could be considered a weapon. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at each other worriedly.
"It's alright, we're going to get out of here, I promise," The stranger said to the two fillies in hope to calm them down. Other ponies began to take whatever they could and tried to form barricades on any possible entrance. "What are your names?" The Stallion asked the two.
Scootaloo was the first to answer. "My name's Scootaloo." She looked at Sweetie Belle, who had soaked cheeks, and wide eyes. She was shaking a bit, and hadn't answered. "And she's Sweetie Belle. I don't think she feels like talking." Scootaloo hadn't really felt like talking either, but this was the only pony she could trust, so she at least wanted to get on his good side.
"Well, my name's Fortunate Story. You can call me Fortune, though. All my friends do." He introduced himself, putting on the best fake smile he could muster. He really wanted the fillies to be positive, but it was hard when he himself had negative thoughts on where the situation was going.
The loud yell of somepony shouting "Infected! filled the room. Everypony looked out the doors to see a small group of ponies racing towards the front doors. All abled bodies suddenly went on autopilot, and started working to prevent them from entering. The guards began shutting the doors, and the infected were advancing rapidly. Other ponies rushed to the door, adding extra muscle to the door in order to close it fast enough.
Screaming filled the room, as ponies started to panic, fleeing throughout the castle. Loud banging and screeching could be heard beyond the door. The screeching became more plentiful, as the door slowly started to come inward.
"Hold on, we're getting out of here." Fortune said to the two fillies. He began galloping upstairs to go to what he assumed was a safe place to hold out.
The space between the doors was growing, and soon enough an arm slipped through. It began feeling around. Soon enough, it tried forcing it's head through. It managed to get it's muzzle through, and anypony left who wasn't on the door ran screaming down the halls. The infected then noticed why the door was resisting, making eye contact with a pony on the door. The infected screamed at him, and he tried to not pay attention. Soon enough, the infected had it's head through, being able to swivel it's head. It look at the pony and spewed out blood at him. He was drenched.
Ponies who noticed ran the instant they saw the almost red pony. He started tearing up, realizing what was going to happen next. The door was opening really quickly now, seeing as most of the force keeping it closed was gone. The bloodied pony began going through the infection trance, before turning to the others behind him, catching them off guard. He leaped towards them.
The lack of force on the door allowed the infected to pour in, infecting many of the remaining ponies around the door. They began galloping after the others in the castle.
Fortune hadn't expected to see so many others running around, going from room to room before going in one without coming out. Everypony was trying to find a place to hide. He knew that the most safe place would probably be the royal chambers, If he could get there. He heard hoofsteps coming rapidly, along with panting. He quickly went into the nearest room, a broom closet, and hid inside with the fillies.
"What's going on out there? Are they up here?" Scootaloo asked, nervous. Sweetie Belle was in a worse state than before, seeming on the verge of tears again.
"I don't know. I think so. Stay quiet, and don't move." Fortune had opened the door very slightly, peeking through the crack to see what the commotion was. He saw a pony come around the corner, panting heavily. He stopped and looked around. Screeches could be heard around the corridor, along with more hoofsteps. He quickly ran into the nearest room. Just as he shut the door, an infected came around. Fortunate closed the door as quickly and quietly as possible. "There's one up here. Stay quiet." He whispered to the fillies.
A loud banging was heard from down the hall. The infected was trying to break into one of the rooms. Loud bangs were heard in repetition, until the final sound of wood splintering was heard. Screams erupted from within the room. The stallion had ran into a room with ponies already inside. Fortune opened the door to see what was going on. The door was splintered off it's hinges, and a mare suddenly ran out from the room down the hall, leaving the rest behind. The screaming subsided after a few seconds, and more infected came out of the room.
They ran to the next door. It was obvious to Fortune what they were doing. "Okay, I need you two to hop back up. I also need you to not make a single sound. We're going to make a run for it. We'll make it." He waited against the door. Once he heard the sound of wood splintering and the screams of ponies, he opened the door and began galloping down the hall towards a two way. He turned left to see the mare from earlier, neck in the jaws of an infected. She was being shaken violently by the infected, as if in the grip of a predatory animal. At the sight of him and the two fillies, the infected dropped it's now dead victim and began running towards them. He quickly turned around and galloped down the hallway.
Turning the corner, Fortune noticed another pony standing there. He wasn't infected, and seemed confused.
Running past him, wondering what he was thinking, he continued running. He was coming to what looked like another double hall. He could keep going straight, or turn right. He took the right hall.
There were two guards standing there.
"Help, there are infected in the castle!" Fortune shouted to the guards.
"So they got through?" The guard looked, concerned. His question was answered by a screaming pony running down the hall. Not two seconds later did an infected run by, in the same direction.
"Go, we'll take care of it." The guards said, readying their lances, galloping off after the infected. Fortune continued trying to make his way upstairs. If he could get to the princess' quarters, they would surely be safe. Finding the stairwell wasn't difficult. Neither was getting to the princess' quarters.
"We made it. We should be safe here." Fortune said, as he tried to push the doors open, but they wouldn't budge. He tried pushing harder, but they still wouldn't move. "I bet..." He stopped and knocked four times in a pattern that made it obvious he was normal... The door opened.
"Hurry, get in here." A pony whispered. He quickly trotted inside, as the doors were close behind him, and a bar was placed in on the door, as well as a dresser. Taking a look around, Fortune could see ponies sobbing to themselves, or in the corner with blank expressions. It seemed as if everypony was hopeless. They had one armed guard. He seemed completely out of it though, staring at the door with his weapon ready, shaking.
"It's okay, we're safe now." Fortune said to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. They both hopped down from his back, looking around at all the ponies. Looking at them just filled them with a sense of hopelessness, so they tried not to make eye contact. Sweetie Belle couldn't find the will to say anything. She was afraid she would make the situation worse than it was already.
"Sweetie Belle, are you okay?" Scootaloo asked concerned, "You haven't said a single word since... well, earlier today." Scootaloo was worried about her friend.
Finally, Sweetie Belle spoke. "I'm fine. Do you think the others got out okay?"
"Of course, I'm sure they all got out." Scootaloo reassured.
"I don't mean them. I know they escaped. I mean the others who were with us. When I let go." Scootaloo realized why Sweetie Belle seemed so down. She must have felt as if it was her fault. A pony had ran right into Sweetie Belle, but by the time she got back up, the rest of the class had vanished. They hadn't seen the others when they were taken in by Fortune, so they didn't know where they had gone. They had all split up.
"It's okay. They're probably with somepony too." Scootaloo said, hoping it to be true.
"What about that family? I could see through the crack in the door when the other room had been broken into. There was a filly in there, too. She had a whole family and two others, and they were all... " Sweetie Belle couldn't even recall the word used for when a pony stopped living. She never had to. Nopony ever had to.
"Well that's not going to happen to us!" Scootaloo said a little more loudly than she wanted. A few eyes drifted towards her. All of them were saddened. "It won't."
They sat there, silently staring at each other.
"How long do you think we're going to spend sitting here?" Scootaloo asked, trying to start some kind of conversation.
"I don't know, maybe we can -" Sweetie Belle was cut of when a loud thud was heard against the door. Another was heard, and soon, it began to sound like somepony was trying to break in. Everypony's face contorted to horror.
"How did they find us!?" A pony shouted.
"What do we do!?" Shouted another.
Panicked shouting started erupting as ponies began searching for a way to escape. There was nothing left but the balcony. Ponies began rushing towards the balcony, trying to get out before the infected could get into the room. Unicorns on the balcony tried to teleport to the roof of the tower across. Some weren't so good with magic, and earth ponies couldn't see any hope of escape.
Fortune began thinking hard. The wall wasn't to far from the balcony. Maybe if they jumped. It was the only clear option they had. He turned to the fillies, and looked them in the eyes.
"Look... There aren't many options to get out of this, but that doesn't mean we're not taking them. They best chance we have is to jump." Both filly's expressions showed obvious horror. "Trust me. I know how this can work. Hey, Scootaloo, right? I need you two to both jump together, and flap your wings as hard as you can. You can get over the wall."
"But... I can barely lift myself up for more than a few seconds!" Scootaloo was mortified at his idea. There was no way she could do this.
"Listen to me. It's the only option." Fortune took them together, and reared up on his back legs. He got a good hoofhold, and threw the fillies as hard as he could. They went a few feet before their fall slowed and they were over the wall much earlier then Fortune thought they would be. Their descent suddenly increased in speed, and they were rapidly descending.
Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle were screaming for their lives as they fell from the city. The only thing they could really land on was the mountain slope, and they were going to fast.
"C'mon wings!" Scootaloo shouted as she tried to fly. She managed to slow their fall to land on the mountain slope, but it was too steep to stand on. They began sliding down, as if it were a massive slide. Their stomachs felt as if they were rising and they were locked together firmly, sliding downwards into whatever lied below.
Everypony on the balcony stared at Fortune as if he were insane. Fortune bucked the railings until they broke, and fell to the streets below. He ran back inside the room. In front of him was the broken rail. If we went fast enough, he could make it. Just as he was about to take the first step, an arm burst in through the door. Fortune took off as fast as he could, leaping for the wall. He fell quickly, with his hooves outstretched. He was about to grab the wall, but he missed. He was too far, and slammed into the wall.
His entire underside was scraped from sliding down from the wall, and his front legs were in too much pain to move them. He Maneuvered himself with his back hooves to see where he had fallen. He couldn't see. He must have fell in a container. He felt something warm slowly trailing down his face, as he started to fade from consciousness.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Celestia looked back at Canterlot, now far away. She could still make out smoke pluming from the city. It was devastating to see it like this. She was going to Baltimare now, since it's the second biggest city in Equestria. She would set up a new temporary capital there. Equestria still had a chance to warn other countries, and it would be taken. She could only hope that Canterlot would be the only city to fall.
Twilight walked out of her Library with Spike on her back, ready to do her duty. Spike looked out in the distance to Canterlot, suddenly suppressing a gasp as he just noticed the city, seeing smoke pluming from within it's walls.
"Woah, what's going on up there?" He asked, shocked.
"It's not anything you should worry about Spike," Twilight assured him, trying to get him calmed down, and to make him feel safe."But if you really want to know, then I'll tell you. There's been a new disease discovered. We don't know much about it, only that it spreads fast, and it's highly contagious. We'll be okay, though." Spike was getting worried again.
"What if it comes here? Why is it so bad?"
"You don't have to worry, Spike. A detachment of specialized royal guards, including my brother, are coming to Ponyville. The disease probably won't leave Canterlot anyway. The city has been sealed up."
"Wait, so you mean they just sealed away those ponies to their fates? They aren't going to save them?" Spike looked angry.
"Not exactly. You see, the disease is... really serious. It isn't safe for the ponies around them. A lot of healthy ponies did get out, though, and Princess Luna is bringing them here. Everything is going to be alright." Twilight said reassuringly.
They approached the town square, and walked into the town hall building. Sitting at a desk was a pony who seemed to be in her own world within her mind, as she just stared at the wall with an emotionless expression.
"That's kind of creepy," Spike said.
"Spike, don't be rude," Twilight scolded him, and trotted up to the desk. The pony took notice of her, and quickly snapped out of her daydream.
"Oh, Princess Twilight, I didn't see you walk in, heh...," She said with a nervous expression.
"Please, just call me Twilight," Twilight said to her.
"Yes, Pri-" The pony faked the most obvious fake cough ever. "Yes, Twilight. What can I do for you today?"
Twilight tried to hide her smirk. "I need to speak to Mayor Mare. It is of the utmost importance."
"Of course, I'll go get her now." The pony quickly got up and trotted through a door.
"She must be new to this job," Spike commented. Twilight was about to voice her agreement when Mayor Mare walked in.
"Ah, Princess Twilight!" Mayor Mare smiled, seeing Ponyville's hero.
"You don't have to call me that. Just Twilight is fine," Twilight said again.
"Okay, Twilight. What did you need me for?" Twilight prepared herself for what she as about to say. She hoped the mayor would take it well. Of course she would understand why.
"Mayor, I , under direct orders from Princess Celestia, am taking charge over the town of Ponyville. You are to step down until the event at hand blows over." Twilight held her breath.
Mayor Mare never expected this day would come. It was a part of the job, that in the event of an extreme crisis, a princess could appoint a pony to take charge over any given settlement. She wondered what kind of event would call for this.
"Of course, I understand. Tell me, why? What is the problem that this is required?" She asked Twilight with a worried voice. Twilight exhaled, glad to see that she had some notion. She explained.
"There has been an extremely lethal outbreak of disease in Canterlot. There is a possibility that Ponyville can be the next to get the disease within the town, so a detachment of royal guards, equipped with special equipment and training to make sure Ponyville and it's residents are safe. Ponyville will also be converted to house refugees from Canterlot."
Mayor Mare was shocked. " Then I'm more than willing to appoint my position to you, Twilight. This sounds serious. I will still be here, if you need any help."
"Thanks for understanding," Twilight smiled at the mayor. She went into the main room, and gathered all the couriers to inform all Ponyville residents to meet in front of the town hall.
Soon enough, all the ponies of Ponyville had gathered, and her friends were in front of the crowd.
"Attention, Ponyville residents. I have news on the events overtaking Canterlot. There has been a serious outbreak of an extremely lethal disease in the city. Luckily, it has been quarantined, and we will not have to worry about the sick escaping. A specialized battalion of guards led by Shining Armor himself will be arriving today to help us prepare for our most important job, aiding the refugees from Canterlot. I ask that we all remain calm and hopeful in these times, and that we all work together. I, under orders from Princess Celestia herself, have been appointed to rule over this town. I will try to the best of my abilities to make sure that we all stay safe. Thank you."
The pony's mouths were all agape, eyes wide in shock. Many of them started running back to their homes. Others started talking to each other, and others looked panicky. Two familiar ponies to Twilight looked very panicky.
"Twilight!" Applejack galloped up to Twilight, looking as if she was extremely troubled.
"What's the matter, Applejack?" Twilight asked her, wondering what the issue was.
"This whole situation is terrible! I can barely believe it!"
"Applejack, you don't have to worry. Everything is going to be fine. We'll have the best guards, and the refugee's will be good business for your farm!" Twilight said with a smile. Applejack glared at her.
"Twilight, Applebloom is up there! She was on a class trip to the Canterlot museum!" Twilight's smile disappeared instantaneously. She tried to think of things to make it sound better.
"Don't worry Applejack, I'm sure she's safe. Besides, Cheerilee is a very responsible pony. I doubt anypony would be left in harm's way with her."
"I just can't imagine what I would do if somethin' were to happen to Applebloom."
"You don't have to, because I can bet that she's just fine. I bet they're on their way as we speak."
"Thanks, Twi."
Rarity listened in on their conversation.
"This is The Worse Possible THING!" Rarity cried out, levitating her chaise longue, and collapsing onto it. Even though Rarity often said this in no significance at all, this time, she really meant it. "My dear Sweetie Belle is out there, surrounded by disease!"
"Rarity... Like I told Applejack, they're fine. You don't have to do this to yourself, you know."
"Oh, Twilight, I hope you are right. If only I could be there with her."
"You will be soon, Rarity. Don't worry about it." Twilight wanted to believe herself, but all she could do was hope she was correct. Pinkie Pie suddenly bounced up to Twilight.
"Hiya Twi! I was just wanderin' what you'd think if I were to throw a super duper welcome to Ponyville for all of those new ponies!" Twilight actually thought it would be a good idea. It would probably raise there spirits.
"Sure, Pinkie. Just don't over do it." Twilight replied.
"Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie zipped away in the direction of Sugar Cube Corner.
Twilight got Spike back up on her back and galloped back to her Library.
"Sir, the town is in site. What are your orders?" Shining Armor's chariot squadron were approaching Ponyville.
"Tell the other chariots to land near the hospital and begin distribution of all equipment. Land our chariot by the Library."
"Yes sir!" The pegasi flew to each chariot, telling their carriers to land by the hospital. He returned to his seat next to Shining.
"Good work. Now, let's just enjoy the rest of the ride."
There wasn't much of a ride left to enjoy. Soon enough, the chariot was bracing and landing in front of Golden Oaks Library. Shining climbed out of the chariot and trotted up the the door. He pushed it open, and the bell rang.
"Shining!" Twilight trotted up to her brother and gave him a hug. She felt something unfamiliar pressing against her. She just noticed that he wasn't wearing his usual captain's armor. Instead, he was wearing a padded suit, with a respirator around his muzzle, and goggles high on his forehead. She also noticed that his padded suit had purple trimming with a big purple star on each of his shoulders.
"Twily, it's good you see you. We've arrived, and are ready to distribute the necessities at the Ponyville hospital."
"Necessities? Like what you're wearing?" Twilight wondered if they would all have to wear those awkward looking suits.
"No, these are just the guard uniforms. We will distribute dust mask and goggles to all residents, and arriving refugees. You need to get the ponies gathered there so we can get them the equipment."
"You got it!" Twilight galloped out of her library, determined to do her job. Shining trotted out the library back into his chariot, instructing the pegasus drivers to fly them to the hospital.
Twilight, with the help of her friends, informed all the ponies of Ponyville to go to the hospital. She could already see ponies trotting around, wearing the mask and goggles. She eventually got to the hospital. She could see guards ponies and hospital staff handing out the equipment. She walked up to it, only for Rainbowdash to land in front of her.
"Twilight, do we really have to wear these?" She had her goggles and mask around her neck. "They're so uncomfortable."
"Yes, Rainbowdash, you d-" She was cut off by Rarity, who had joined the conversation suddenly. She had her equipment on.
"These things look horrid. They make everypony look akward." Twilight was about to speak again, only for Rainbowdash to speak instead.
"They don't actually look that bad. I think they look pretty cool. it's just that they feel really uncomfortable."
"The feel okay to wear, I don't see what you're talking about. They just look so dull and boring." Twilight had enough of the two yapping.
"Listen, girls, you have to wear this equipment. lives depend on it!" Raindbowdash quickly put on her gear, and both their faces were surprised.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell like that, but this is serious. We can't be goofing around with silly concerns like these." Twilight said, seriousness in her voice.
"I understand, Twi. I'll catch you later." Rainbowdash said, and with that, she dashed off, knocking Twilight and Rarity back slightly.
"I'm still going to go make these look presentable." Rarity walked off towards the Carousel Boutique.
Twilight continued trotting back up towards the table, seeing Dr.Stable hoofing out some equipment to a pony. He was wearing a respirator mask, like the guards. All the hospital staff were. It was her turn. She walked up to greet him, and he smiled at her.
"Ah, Princess Twilight! I have a special mask for you." He hoofed a respirator to her.
"I get one of these fancy masks? Why?"
"Special orders from you brother." Twilight didn't think she needed a special respirator while everypony else had dust mask, but it made sense for her brother to be protective of her. She appreciated how he looked out for her. She pulled the respirator on, and pulled the goggles over her eyes. She pulled out some of her mane that was caught underneath the goggles. She felt awkward, but at least she wasn't the only one wearing them.
"The refugees are coming!" A pegasus guard from above Twilight suddenly shouted, startling her. Some of the guards began galloping towards the bridge that the refugees were suppose to cross, Shining included. Twilight saw Applejack and Fluttershy talking to each other. Trotting over to them, she asked them to come with here to greet the refugees.
"Sure I will. I wanna be there to make sure Applebloom is okay."
Fluttershy just nodded quietly with a smile.
"If you don't mind, I wanna get Rarity to join us. I'm sure she'll want to see Sweetie Belle." With that, they set off.
Waiting by the bridge, they could see Princess Luna at the forefront of the crowd, leading them to the bridge. She stopped in front of Twilight.
"Twilight Sparkle." Twilight looked up to Luna." I assume tho-You... have prepared Ponyville for the arrival of the refugees?"
"Of course, Princess Luna. We are all set, but first, I'd appreciate it if you would keep the refugees here until we can fit them with their own gear before entering Ponyville."
"Good idea, Twilight. We will await the guards." Twilight turned her attention to the crowd of refugees. There were so many. She didn't know if Ponyville could accommodate such a high population increase. She decided to walk into the crowd, in which her friends followed.
Twilight looked around at all the refugees. They were all scraggly, mangy, and not a single one of them had anything close to a smile. Some of them could barely stand. Many looked at her with pleading eyes.
Twilight felt her own mood drop just by making eye contact with a pony. It only got worse. Some of the ponies had bandages wrapped around their limbs. Many had coats stained with red, what she could only assume to be dry blood. Many of them had soaked cheeks, or were still crying. She could only imagine what actually happened up there inSom Canterlot. She hoped whatever Pinkie had planned would actually work.
She became more and more doubtful every second she watched them. Her friends weren't any better. Applejack was looking around franticly, and Rarity was looking around carefully. Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen.
Surprisingly, Twilight managed to spot Cheerilee among the crowd before Applejack and Rarity could. Twilight quickly trotted over to Cheerilee, needing to confirm her words.
"Cheerilee!" Twilight called out to get her attention, and she turned her gaze to meet Twilight's. Twilight could tell she was shaken up, and a look of sadness was on her face.
"Twilight... " Cheerilee didn't know what to say to her.
"Are they safe?" Twilight asked, referring to the class. Cheerilee understood. She didn't want to answer. She looked away, hoping Twilight would leave, but when she looked back, she was still there. Cheerilee sighed, and answered.
"No, Twilight. They aren't. Some of them are. They're right here." Twilight's ears fell back, and a frown appeared. She scanned the group of traumatized children to spot the three fillies she knew so well. She couldn't miss that giant bow from a mile away.
"Applebloom!" Twilight trotted up to Applebloom, who noticed her. At some point, Applejack had trotted up the them.
"Applejack!" Applebloom noticed her older sister, and galloped over to her, jumping onto her into a big hug.
"I'm so glad you're safe, Applebloom, I was so worried for you, thought you would never come back!" Applejack sat on her haunches and held Applebloom. Normally, Applebloom would protest to this kind of treatment, but not now.
"Me too." Applebloom replied. Applejack noticed something.
"Where's Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?" All the happiness that Applebloom had felt suddenly caught on fire and the ashes blew away in the winds of pain.
"They didn't get out with us."
"What do you mean, they didn't get out with you?" Twilight asked, panicked.
"The guards closed the doors before we could all get out together. They were left behind." Applejack and Twilight's faces were a blend of the same emotions.
"Are you going to tell Rarity?" Applejack asked Twilight.
"I'm going to have to. I can't believe this." Twilight looked at Cheerilee. Cheerilee looked back at them, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.
"I'm so sorry..."
