MLP Laboratories- The Outbreak

by NeuPferdfurt

And Then There Was Darkness

Twilight Sparkle and Spike arrived on the Apple Farm shortly before Rainbow Dash destroyed the central generator.

-

Applejack was working harder than ever.
Big Macintosh was worried. He was not a colt of many words, but he was trying to find the right ones. So far, nothing got through to her.

By now she was harvesting and delivering most of the apples herself. It almost looked as if she was obsessed to get them off the farm as quickly as possible.

Of course Big Macintosh didn't see what his little sister DIDN'T see.
Because what she DIDN'T see were the worms. Swarming all over the harvest, but hey, no worries. They were not really there. Business as usual. Work must go on.

-

"Hello, Applejack!"

"Howdy Twilight! Spike. Fancy seeing you here. I'm afraid I'm a little busy right now, why don't you go inside. Applebloom can..."

"I take it from here, Applejack", Big Macintosh said, "You go with your friends."

"But..."

Before she could say anything else, her brother had pulled the cart away from her.

"Alright, I guess..."

Twilight and Spike looked at each other for a brief moment. They had both noticed the dark rings beneath Applejack's eyes, the way her tail was twitching.

"Okay, Applejack... There is something we'd like to talk to you about..."

"Talk? About what, in tarnation?"

"About... Apples."

"Apples."

"Yesss! Your stock. We need to inspect your apple cellars. We'll explain there."

"Ma apples are fine..."

"SURE they are. Let's just go down to the cellar, alright? We'll explain."

"Come on in, then..."

Applejack didn't like this. Sure, they were her friends, but why were they so eager to keep her from working? All of this was mighty suspicious.

"Hey! What's Spike doing over there?"

"I'm locking us in. Don't worry, Applejack. You need to relax."

Twilight smiled at her.

"We need your help, Applejack. What we are going to tell you might sound strange, but as long as we all work together..."

Normally, the cellars were only lit in the small, orange glow of what the farm ponies thought of as candles or oil lamps. Now Spike had activated the main light, revealing the place for what it really was- a high-tech storage facility.

Spike uttered a tiny squeak of terror and disgust.

All around them, robotic arms were pushing needles into apples, or bombarding them with green rays. And the worms. Worms everywhere. Some were even crawling on the floor, coming closer, as if these blind creatures had a way of sensing the presence of their warm, inviting flesh.

"Spike, what is this?"

"The Apple Farm is not my department! I knew they were manipulating the food, but I had no idea... No idea..."

The awful calm in Applejack's voice made them shiver. "What are you babbling about?"

"Applejack, can't you see? There is something horrible going on..."

"I can see alright. Listen, I don't know what got into you to, but I'm mighty uncomfortable with this. I would be glad if you could just... leave. Maybe come visit me some other day? I got work to do."

"Applejack, please! you need to come with us to Pinkie Pie's place. This has gone too far..."

"It has! Get out already!"

"The WORMS, Applejack! The freakin' WORMS! You're seeing them too, aren't you?"

"I AIN'T seeing nothing. NOTHING!"

Twilight wasn't prepared for this. She had always thought of Applejack as the most loyal friend, as someone rational and most of all, honest.

"We won't leave you like this! There is no way back, Applejack! You need to come with us."

"Get off mah property!"

"Applejack..."

And then there was darkness.

-

It was not so much of an earthquake as a sudden, high frequency vibration. One of the many inofficial names the inhabitants of Ponyville would later give to this event would be "the moment hundreds of ponies peed themselves".

There were the sounds of explosions, wires being torn apart, debris flying around like shrapnels. At some places, big chunks of machinery were falling from the iron sky.

And then the lights went out. Everywhere. From the artificial sun in the sky to the tiniest desk lamp.

Spike knew that this was a blackout, even though nothing in his training or his own research had prepared him for something like this.
The ponies however did not know.

Sufficient to say that not all ponies who died that day were victims of the explosion itself; there was a fair share of ponies who died of shock, had horrible accidents in the dark or even killed themselves on purpose.

From one second to the next, their world had vanished. They were lurking in the darkness, crying and trembling of terror and cold. Because the warmth had gone as well.

"Spike..."

"I am here, Twilight."

"Spike, I can't see anything... Am I blind?"

"I don't think so. Turn your head. Do you see the green emergency light at the other side of the room?"

"I do. Oh Spike, I'm so scared."

"I hear you, sister. Let's get out of this place. Where's Applejack?"

"Applejack!"

There was no answer.

Twilight used her horn to light the way. Her light was very small and pale now, but it was still there.

The worms on the floor were dying. Apparently, they couldn't stand the cold. Finally some good news.

"Applejack!"

"Twilight, I think she left us here."

"We... Oh Spike, let's leave. We need to know what is going on outside."

A night sky without stars. Twilight was staring into the void.

"What happened, Spike?"

"The juice is gone. But They didn't turn it out... Something has gone very wrong."

The world had become so quiet. So very cold. Part of Twilight wondered whether she was already dead.

"Hop on, Spike. We need to get going. Meet up with the others. Figure this out. Something."

-

The young unicorn pony felt like diving through a black sea. From time to time, structures and objects would appear in her hornlight, just to be swallowed again by the darkness.
They had reached Ponyville, and now she heard the whimpering. Thousands of voices, scared, lonely, hurting.

"Oh, Spike..."

"We're not the only survivors, Twilight. Think of it this way."

"Look!"

Other ponies were drawn to her light. A face rose from the darkness, and another.

"Hi... come closer. That's right, don't be scared."

"S-so cold..."

"I know. Shhh. We will go to Sugar Cube Corner, why don't you come with us?"

"Do you think this is a good idea, Twilight?"

"What else can we do? Why would we leave them here?"

There were more and more faces. There were other unicorns as well, but they were either not as skilled as Twilight or too scared to use their own magic.

"Everpony, follow me. That's right. Follow the light."

"Are you the Pony of Death?", someone whispered.

"I... No! It's just me, Twilight Sparkle. You know me!"

"What happened to us?"

"Stay calm. We need to organize ourselves. Just come with us."

They reached Sugar Cube Corner together with about twenty other ponies. Pinkie Pie was already waiting for them at the doorstep, and as surreal as this was, she had prepared a can of hot chocolate.
She let them inside.

-

They were resting on the floor of the shop, wrapped in blankets. There were tiny campfires everywhere, made of sheets and lit by Spike's flame.

"So this is it, then. Everything has changed. What do you think is going to happen, Spike?"

"Hard to tell... Obviously, They will try to fix this. The question is, what are They going to do to us? They can't use their gizmos to neutralize us, not anymore. If this sector is the only one touched by the blackout, They will probably quarantine us. And then? They just wait until we die of cold and starvation, and then They move in and fix this place. Or They move in right away. They might send drones..."

"Like this one?"

Pinkie Pie dropped a metal sphere in front of them. It had a large camera eye, but didn't seem to be active.

"It was floating around, and I just thought to myself... Well, no, I didn't, I just killed it."

"You know, maybe we can turn this to our advantage... Maybe we can figure a way out of here before they make their move."

-

Suddenly, a flash of light. It was coming from outside, from town square.

"PONIES OF PONYVILLE. DO NOT PANIC. PRINCESS CELESTIA AND HER ROYAL GUARD ARE HERE TO RESTORE ORDER AND SUPPORT YOU IN THIS DARKEST HOUR."

"Too late. They're here."

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Well, this is unexpected. And also out of order. What's up?

[NeuPferdfurt]

5460033

corrected it... I think. haven't really used the "change chapter order" tool before