After Fluttershy finds a strange device in the Ponyville Ice Rink, Princess Celestia demands that the entire ice rink become temporarily quarantined. But how long is temporary?
Fluttershy has always enjoyed being employed at the ice rink, handing out skates, cleaning the floors and equipment, and sometimes even smoothing the ice, so she knows her way around the rink. Every detail was always stood out to her, from the very day she was employed, so she immediately noticed the small new device hidden in the corner of the building. After Celestia reveals it to be releasing a toxin into the air, the entire rink is temporarily quarantined with everypony inside. But how long is temporary? With only a few vending machines and snack bars to keep all those ponies fed, and only basic first aid skating kits to keep them healthy, will it be too long?
Fluttershy smiled as she tied the final lace on Sweetie Belle's ice skate. Her two friends, Scootaloo and Applebloom, had already begun their skating, and seemed to be having some trouble.
"Wow, thanks Fluttershy!" Sweetie belle smiled, hopping off the bench and stumbling to the door to the rink. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Ice Skaters Go!".
Fluttershy smiled and rolled her eyes, walking back to the counter and standing patiently behind it. She had always loved working at the ice rink from the very day she had been employed. It was so nice to see the smiles of the ponies as they stepped onto the ice or ordered a lovely snack from the snack bar. Her friends always enjoyed coming to visit her, and even stopping to skate sometimes. In her opinion, Pinkie was the best skater, even though Rainbow Dash was a close second.
Ring!
Fluttershy turned towards the door. The bell had rung, meaning somebody was here. Fluttershy smiled and stepped out from behind the counter.
"Rainbow Dash! Twilight! Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Applejack!" she welcomed. "It's so nice of you to drop in! Can I get you guys your regular skates?"
Rainbow Dash bolted up into the air, smiling. "Heck yeah! Today's the day I finally rank higher than Pinkie Pie! I've been practicing a bit!" Rainbow boasted, puffing out her chest and crossing her arms.
Pinkie Pie raced to the skate rack, bouncing up and down. "Yeah right, Dashie! I'm the top skater in here!" she smirked. Fluttershy giggled and flew lightly over to the rack, pulling several skates off the shelves.
"Oh, Rarity, bye the way, you're skates were looking a bit dull, so I re-glittered and polished them. Also, Applejack, I put new buckles on yours, I just saw them at the market and I couldn't help myself." Fluttershy informed them. Applejack smiled. "My, sugar cube! These look fancy!" she praised.
Meanwhile, Rarity was admiring each grain of glitter on the skates. "Fluttershy, these look simply marvelous. How ever can we thank you?" she asked.
"Oh, Rarity, it was nothing, no need to thank me." Fluttershy gushed. "Anyway, go ahead and put them on, I might join you guys for skating in a minute, I just need to adjust the temperature. The ice is a bit watery, I'm just going to turn it down a little bit." she explained.
Twilight frowned. "Ok, well, make sure you get up here! I was looking forward to hanging out with you a bit. We haven't seen you much lately. I know it's skating season, but still." she sighed.
Fluttershy nodded and smiled apologetically, then, after a quick goodbye, left to go change the temperature. When she arrived at the control room, a strange smell immediately reached her nostrils.
That's quite odd...I've never smelled something like this before...it smells...sickly... Fluttershy thought to herself. Carefully, she trotted over to the temperature control system, which had been safely tucked away in the corner. For years, this single machine had pumped cold or warm air into any room in the building, and Fluttershy knew it like the bottom of her hoof. She gave it a careful glance, something looked off. She adjusted the rink temperature to the desired number, then looked again. No, still off. Then it hit her. There was a small box attached to the bottom corner of the system.
Extremely cautiously, she leaned in towards it. The sickly smell returned, stronger than before. Oh my Celestia, this can't be good! I'd better tell Twilight! Maybe she'll know what it is!
Fluttershy watched as Twilight slipped the photo into the letter and handed it to Spike. Spike held the letter to face level and blew, sending it spiraling off to Canterlot in a flash of green flame. Fluttershy helped Scootaloo remove and re shelve her skates. "I don't get it! Why in tarnation do we all have to get off the ice?" Applebloom huffed.
"Because we found something, and we have to make sure it's still safe to use the rink." Fluttershy explained. Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't it be?" she muttered. Rainbow pouted in the corner as Pinkie showed Dash her spony skating medal.
Spike's stomach gurgled as he burped a cloud of smoke and green fire, revealing a scroll. Twilight caught it quickly with her magic before it hit the ground. She carefully removed the ribbon and read over the words written. Fluttershy desperately tried to find out what it said, trying to glance over Twilight's shoulder.
Suddenly, royal guards came racing towards the ice rink, leaping into position over every visible exit. The Crusaders screamed and hugged each other, knocking over a pile of knee pads. Fluttershy screamed and dove into a pile of helmets, sending several flying.
Twilight froze and the letter dropped onto the hard tile floor. "We're being temporarily quarantined. Fluttershy, that thing you found, it's emitted a toxin into every room in the building via ventilation system." Twilight spoke matter-of-factly. Fluttershy poked her head out of the pile with a gasp.
"So we can't leave? For how long?" she stammered. Twilight gave her a concerned look and shrugged. "I don't know, but I seriously hope it's not long..." she frowned.
"Well, we might as well make the best of the situation. Pinkie Pie, wanna skate?" Rainbow smirked.
"Oh, you're on!" Pinkie beamed, racing to the rink, Dash following her. Spike coughed lightly, then burped loudly as a letter flew out.
Twilight picked up the letter and gasped.
PS: I have no choice but to individually quarantine the rink. It's the biggest room, and it's consumed the most toxin. A guard will block it immediately, he will also be casting spells on all the doors. Please remain calm.
~Celestia
Twilight looked up to see a firm guard standing in front of the door, horn powered. "Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie!" Twilight screamed, racing to the guard. "Please, you have to let them out!" she begged. The guard stared idly on, as if she never was there.
Although small, the noise echoed through the ice rink. Everypony turned towards the door, it very lightly glowed blue. Thoughts raced through Rainbow's mind as she stared at the door, but one stuck out. The right one. They quarantined the rink individually. Without even thinking, she rammed herself into the door, but it didn't budge.
"What happened?"
Rainbow turned around, somepony else had followed them in.
"Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow knew that voice, she knew it quite well.
"Scootaloo!" she cried, hugging her. Scootaloo seemed confused, but also happy.
"Why are you hugging me, Rainbow Dash? What happened?" she asked again.
Rainbow went pale. What was she going to tell Scootaloo?
Oh nothing, just that we're going to be trapped in here for a pretty long time and may freeze to death or maybe die from this crazy toxin, and I know what you're thinking, make Fluttershy change the temperature, but it's your choice. Freeze, die of toxin, or drown?
That definitely wasn't the best answer.
"Nothing, it's ok, just go enjoy the ice." Rainbow put on a fake smile.
"Actually, we were just going to get a snack from the concession stand." Sweetie smiled as they passed Rainbow Dash. Her mind raced. What could she say to stop them from leaving!?
"It's closed!" she yelped.
"We'll just use the vending machine!" Sweetie smiled.
Rainbow gritted her teeth. Damnit Sweetie Belle! "Broken!"
"Oh," Sweetie frowned. "Is it doing that thing where the numbers are all mixed up and wrong?"
Rainbow thought for a moment. If she said yes, she knew that Sweetie knew that Fluttershy could fix it fairly quickly, as this was a regular problem, so she simply shook her head, and softly fluttered in front of the door.
"We'll ask Fluttershy to take a look at it." Sweetie Belle puzzled at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow stood her ground. Oh for the love of Celestia!
"Fluttershy's busy handling the COMPLETELY TEMPORARY quarantine." Rainbow knew that this probably wasn't entirely a lie. Fluttershy would never let anything happen to the rink, even though she didn't own it. She admired Fluttershy's loyalty.
"I'm gettin' a might cold, can we leave now?" Applebloom asked. This was the first time Rainbow had noticed that the temperature seemed lower than usual. Even with Fluttershy's earlier temperature change wouldn't make it this cold. How was Rainbow supposed to make up an excuse for this one? She couldn't. She had to come clean.
"Look, girls, the truth is, they quarantined the rink with us in it. We can't get out, and nobody can come in, the door's completely locked and guarded. We won't be getting out for a while." she sighed.
Scootaloo's face fell, her heart sank. Applebloom shivered slightly and the three huddled slightly closer.
"I'm getting c-cold too..." Sweetie Belle squeaked. Rainbow bit her lip as Pinkie skidded to a halt around them.
"It's freezing in here!" she shuddered. Scootaloo nodded sadly and shivered. Rainbow didn't know what to do. The frustration was getting to her. It was boiling up inside of her, just on the brink of coming out. She gritted her teeth and smashed against the door several times.
"Let us out!" she screamed as loud as she could. The sound bounced off the walls and echoed through the rink. Tears streamed from her eyes, but she didn't make another sound. She knew that "temporary" could easily be quite a long time. They could die from so many things. Starvation, toxin, hypothermia, drowning if Fluttershy decided to turn up the temperature, dehydration, there was so many options.
Rainbow grunted loudly and smashed up against the door once again before flying up into the air.
"This is crazy! They don't have the right to cage us like animals!" she shouted. Pinkie bit her lip. Scootaloo's wings buzzed as she tried to reach Rainbow's height only to fall once again. Sweetie Belle tried to act as Rainbow Dash, slamming against the door several times while Applebloom stared in confusion.
Just then, another sound echoed through the rink. It was the loudspeaker, Fluttershy's voice emitting from it.
"Attention all skaters and staff, the ice rink has been temporarily quarantined. Please remain calm and if you can, please make your way to the front desk. We're recording everybody's names and info to make sure everybody stays in good condition. If you take any medicine or need daily doses of anything, please report this to the staff. The actual rink has been individually quarantined as well. We are trying to find a way to feed and warm those inside, but please remain patient."
Rainbow thudded onto the ground. She wished so badly now that she had been wrong, and that the door was just stuck. But now it was confirmed. How the heck was she supposed to remain patient when she was going to die?! She tried to think of how she could survive each tragedy.
After some careful thought, she decided to share her ideas with the others. "Guys, come over here for a second." she called from the door, removing one of her skates and smashing it against the ice until the blade broke off. "I have some ideas on how we can handle each situation."
She began to scratch out her plans into the metal of the door while the others nodded along.
Toxin: Avoid physical contact, don't move quickly to avoid heavy breathing.
Hypothermia: Huddle close together to share body heat, move on the spot.
Hunger: Eat skate leather or anything you might find on the ice. Only eat what you NEED.
Thirst: Use skate blade to chip off ice chunks and melt them in your mouth.
Drowning: Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash can assist in keeping everypony above the water using wings and magic.
Scootaloo's face turned red and she began to speak. "A-Actually Rainbow Dash, I can't fly." she explained.
Rainbow rolled her eyes and facehoofed with a sigh and scratched out Scootaloo's name with the skate blade
Drowning: Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash can assist in keeping everypony above the water using wings and magic.
"There, better?" she asked.
Scootaloo frowned, then nodded.
The day had been a massive blur, first, the skating fun, then the quarantine, then the planning, then another announcement, then pretty much nothing until late that night when they all laid down on the cold ice to sleep. Nobody was really sleeping, though. It was much too cold.
*creak*
Rainbow knew that sound. It cut the air like a blade. It was an opening door. Rainbow bolted upright and raced over to the door, only to find it still closed. But one single beam of light cast across the dark rink. Coming from an open door. The equipment room!
Rainbow raced over and peeked in, Scootaloo stood, trying to pull a hockey net out. Rainbow looked left, only to see several hockey nets already arranged.
She flew over and assisted Scootaloo, yanking the net free.
"Rainbow Dash? Thanks, I was trying to sleep but I was freezing, and then I had an idea! Check this out!" she beamed, buzzing her wings until she lay atop the net, using it quite well as a bed. Rainbow smiled. "Kid, you're pretty smart. I'll get the others, can you move this one out there on your own?" she praised.
Scootaloo nodded with a smile as she speedily pulled the net out of the room. Rainbow flew off in a hurry to inform her friends, still surprised by Scootaloo's great idea.
Scootaloo carefully slid the last net into place, peering back into the room for the tarps and pads she had seen earlier. She grabbed 5 tarps, which seemed quite heavy, and tossed them onto her aching back. Then grabbed 5 pads, which had previously been used for softening the falls of young fillies and colts, and added those on top of the tarps.
There. She thought. Pillows and blankets. Done. She peered over her shoulder to see Applebloom talking to Pinkie Pie. Applebloom said something, and Pinkie answered, then shrugged. Rainbow Dash flew over and lifted Scootaloo onto her back with a smile. Scootaloo felt Rainbow's warmth against her cold body, filling her with a wonderful tingling feeling as her eyes closed.
Day 2
When she awoke, she found that everypony else was already awake. She looked around the room, trying to remember where she was. Sweetie Belle was nervously and cautiously sneaking into the equipment room. Scootaloo found this questionable, but looked away. Applebloom was laying in her makeshift net bed, making some sort of little contraption out of random things from the equipment room, Rainbow Dash was angrily pounding on the door, occasionally bodychecking it as hard as she could. Pinkie Pie was waiting outside the equipment room, jogging on the spot and biting her lip. Pinkie and Sweetie were definitely up to something, and Scootaloo wanted to know what is was.
Slowly staggering off her net, she slid steadily over to Pinkie Pie. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Just waiting for the bathroom." Pinkie replied.
So Sweetie wasn't up to anything after all. But where were they "going"? Just on the floor? Or maybe in a bucket or something? Scootaloo had to know. She stepped into the line behind Pinkie, who was bouncing like a jackhammer at this point.
"Oh, I can't wait any longer!" Pinkie yelped as she banged on the door. Sweetie Belle slowly stepped out, Pinkie racing in. Scootaloo moved up in line, just as Rainbow Dash, who had a large red mark on one side of her body, flew down and landed beside her.
"Who's holding up the line?!" she huffed. Scootaloo was a little shocked. She had never seen Rainbow so angry before.
"I-it's Pinkie Pie." she explained. Rainbow rolled her eyes, but then her face softened.
"Scootaloo, I'm so sorry this happened to you. Are you cold? Do you need your tarp? Are you hungry?" she asked. Scootaloo shook her head. Just then, the loudspeaker crackled to life, and Fluttershy's voice echoed through the rink again.
Please inform the staff if you develop any of these symptoms: Chills, Nausea, Rapid coughing, Rapid sneezing, Heartburn, Stomach pains, Migraines, Dizziness Sudden pains, or Itchy sores.
If you have developed any of those symptoms, please report this to staff. You may be infected with toxin.
The sound of the speaker crackled out. Rainbow's eyes filled with tears, but the wiped her eyes and continued to wait. Pinkie Pie walked gingerly out of the Equipment room and over to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, leaving Scootaloo to do her business. She walked in and closed the door behind her, looking for where the others had been "going". A black garbage bin caught her eye, and she trotted over to it, wincing at the rancid smell coming from it. This was definitely the place. She hopped up onto the rim and sat down, letting her business happen before leaving Rainbow Dash to hers. Scootaloo stared solemnly at the overbearing door keeping them locked up like this. Something in her suddenly snapped, something keeping her sane.
Tears started pouring down her face. She tore off her skate and hurled it at the window with of great force. She gasped. The window. It was broken. She raced at it, leaping as high as she could, fling through it and landing in the main room at the front counter.
"HEY!"
Guards. Scootaloo began running, having no idea where she was going. The guards raced at her, two grabbing her firmly. "NO!" she screamed, bucking one guard in the face. He shouted in pain and dropped her, giving her the chance to escape from the other. Her breathing sped up as she raced through the unknown hallways, guards just a hoof behind her. She turned her head, only to find a mess of corridors. It must have taken Fluttershy a long time to memorize those paths. She dove down the first one she could get to, disappearing into the dark and leaving the guards to play in the wrong path.
She took a deep breath, then exhaled quietly. Her hoofsteps were completely silent as she trotted further into the dark, peering around. A dim light shone in the distance, illuminating the path slightly. The shine of the light made something sparkle, shine. She couldn't tell what it was from this far away though. Taking a step forward, she instantly recognised the shine oh a royal guard badge. With a scream, she instantly tried to fly away, but it wasn't fast enough.
"Ow! Let go of my mane! Grab something else!" he yelped, flailing in an attempt to escape.
Rainbow smiled and tousled Scootaloo's hair. "You're a smart kid, Scootaloo. That was a really good try." she praised. Scootaloo smiled happily and nuzzled Rainbow Dash.
"Thanks Rainbow Dash, I was so close!" she beamed. Sitting here nuzzling Rainbow Dash, the escape failure didn't seem so bad.
Applebloom sat crying in the corner while Sweetie tried to comfort her, Pinkie laid on her net, her hair deflated, her pink turned a pale pinkish grey. With all the sadness and worry around her, it was hard to keep a positive outlook on things. The window had finally been repaired, even though Twilight had argued to the guard for hours, and still wasn't stopping.
"But the window already opened! It's equalized now! The fumes are being pumped into every room anyway!" she stomped her hoof down.
"Mam, please stop. Calm down and please go back to your assigned cot." the guard demanded.
"No! Let them out!" Twilight growled, then sighed, and slowly walked away. Scootaloo poked Rainbow Dash in the chest.
"Rainbow, listen! I hear Twilight!" Scootaloo rushed, racing over to the door and plastering her ear to the window.
"Spike, take a note!" Twilight commanded. "Dear Princess Celestia, the window to the rink was broken today for an hour. We've been exposed to the toxin in it, besides, the toxins are pumped into both rooms anyway. Why can't my friends leave the room and join us? Please respond as fast as possible. Your student, Twilight."
Scootaloo bit her lip nervously. Were they going to get free? Just then, the sound of flames and a light thud indicated a letter had arrived.
Twilight greedily snatched at the letter, eager to read it's contents.
My dearest Twilight Sparkle,
You're friends, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, can not be released at this time. I'm sorry, but they have to stay in the room for safety reasons, and you all must stay in the building no matter what. Please remain calm and collected, and the temporary quarantine will soon be resolved.
~Celestia
Twilight nearly hit the roof. Stay calm?! How in the hay was she supposed to STAY CALM!? Her friends could die in there!
*BOOM*
Everybody turned towards the sound of the explosion, finding themselves staring down the staircase. Fluttershy gasped and raced down the staircase in a hurry.
"The temperature control room!" she cried. Twilight gasped, chasing after her, followed by Applejack. When they arrived, the toxin bomb had exploded. The room was quite damaged, but most of all, the temperature control machine was broken, and the dial was blown down very far. Fluttershy would never set it as that temperature, even on the hottest days!
Then, a thought struck them all, sending Applejack and Fluttershy racing up the stairs. But Twilight just stood, and blinked. Her friends were going to die. They would freeze for sure. The dial was blown off. They couldn't even fix it if they tried. Slowly, the trotted up the staircase, trying desperately to think of some sort of plan. Then, a thought rushed into her mind. She could teleport in, then teleport them out, followed by herself. It was genius! Now galloping up the staircase, she skidded across the main room floor.
Powering up her horn, she performed the teleportation spell with ease, appearing in seconds within the rink. Suddenly, a letter appeared in front of her. With a puzzled look plastering her face, she picked it up and silently began to read it.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I am most disappointed in you! I thought my number one student would be better than to disobey her teacher and princess! After what I've seen, the guards have improved their magic! Teleport shields are now in action!
~Celestia
Twilight went pale as she felt her legs stagger beneath her, losing their usual strength.
"Twilight? What are you doing here?! I thought you were supposed to be outside, this room is quarantined!" Sweetie Belle puzzled.
With a flash of blue magic, Twilight found herself outside the rink again. Twilight smiled weakly, happy that her teacher would never leave her to die. Then those emotions changed. Celestia had left five of her friends to die horribly in the icy hell they were trapped in. Twilight shuddered, remembering how freezing it had been. The feeling of hunger overcame her like a wave, suddenly, and too strongly. Her stomach growling at her, she trotted to where Fluttershy was standing behind a counter, thinking hard about what she could do.
Twilight smiled weakly as she dropped five bits on the counter.
"Two slices of pizza, please." she pleaded.
Fluttershy nodded, obviously on the verge of crying, and but the bits in a box, taking the slices out of the holder and giving them to Twilight.
"Oh Twilight, I just don't know what to do! I feel like everybody is relying on me to handle this place!" she teared up.
"Fluttershy, it's okay!" Twilight smiled, putting a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "You can relax, we can handle ourselves!"
Fluttershy nodded slowly as Twilight walked away. Then, it happened. Twilight heard something, she heard a cough. Then several more, until it turned into a hacking cough, getting stronger every second. Somebody was sick. Somebody had too much toxin in their system. And somebody was going to get the others infected if somebody didn't get help.
Twilight covered her muzzle and peered around the corner, careful not to take any breaths. She had to quickly run off to the nearest closet to gasp at sight she had seen. It was Spike, Spike was sick. Who knew if it was fatal? It had to be, or Celestia wouldn't quarantine them. Oh maybe they didn't know? Twilight sure didn't. But she wanted to. Just then, light poured into the closet. Twilight screamed, then quickly silenced herself as she saw Rarity.
"Twilight!" she sobbed. "Spike is sick! It's the disease, Spike has it!"
Twilight nodded, explaining how she had seen Spike coughing and gotten so scared that she was going to get infected that she ran off to the closet. Just as her explanation ended, a hacking cough broke the silent sobs. Twilight and Rarity peered around the corner to see two medic ponies, Royal Riff and Lemon Hearts, carrying Spike to a random room that Twilight had never been in before. Then a pounding on the rink door, followed by Apple Bloom's voice.
"WAIT, WAIT! STOP! WE HAVE TWO SICK PONIES IN HERE! STOP, HELP!" Twilight teared up at the sound of her muffled scream. Two sick ponies? Rainbow and Pinkie Pie? Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo? Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle? The chart began to sooth her mind, so she continued making it, seeing all the possible matches and sketching them in the wall.
Scootaloo + Rainbow Dash Scootaloo + Pinkie Pie Scootaloo + Sweetie Belle Rainbow Dash + Pinkie Pie Rainbow Dash + Sweetie Belle Pinkie Pie + Sweetie Belle
"Hm...by the shown symptoms, Apple Bloom wouldn't be able to walk over, bang on the door and scream if she was sick, so she can't be infected..." Twilight mumbled thoughtfully to herself. All the possibilities confused her, she wanted to know exactly who the sick ponies were.
*thud*
How fast was the disease going to spread? Was it fatal? What would Twilight do if she caught it?
*THUD*
The thought of Spike dying because of this whole thing terrified her. She didn't want anybody to die, not because of this whole stupid quarantine. But what could she do? Not leave. Celestia had an army, she was just a pony.
Sweetie Belle was stirred out of her sleep by a hoof poking her in the side.
"Sweetie Belle, wake up! Scootaloo is in really bad shape now, she's throwing up and crying, and her eyes are bloodshot! We need to help her!" Applebloom pleaded. Sweetie Belle frowned and carefully slid off her makeshift bed, eyeing Scootaloo tiredly. Her and Pinkie Pie had gotten sick earlier, but Scootaloo had been in worse condition all day. She was younger, more vulnerable. The temperature had dropped radically, and now it was beyond freezing, and Sweetie Belle was beginning to feel light headed. She shivered violently, her teeth chattering.
Rainbow Dash was curled up on her bed, munching sleepily on her share of the bread found under the shelf of the EQR. It was stale, and slightly soggy, but it was food, so what else mattered? Suddenly, a splash echoed through the room, Scootaloo had thrown up on the floor again. It smelled horrible, Sweetie felt like vomiting just by smelling it. Probably because what she was throwing up wasn't food, she didn't have any of that left in her.
"Well what are we supposed to do about that? We can't help her, Applebloom. We can only protect ourselves." Sweetie Belle sighed. Applebloom nodded wearily, strapping on her surgical mask that they had found in the emergency kit. Sweetie was thinking hard about today, about how she had seen Twilight pop in, then vanish like nothing had happened. How did she do it? How did she get in?
If there was a way in, there had to be a way out, Sweetie just knew it. Sh concentrated hard, searching the room from her bed, trying to find any sort of exit. After a few minutes, she yawned, and her eyes slowly started to close. Then, Sweetie's ears nearly burst as a scream was amplified by the echoing walls of the rink. She spun around, nearly toppling off her bed to see what had happened.
The scream had come from Pinkie Pie, and had been caused by Scootaloo, who was now hacking up foamy blood, convulsing on the ground violently. Applebloom leaped up and raced over to help her friend, and although Sweetie was panicked, she couldn't think of any way to help. Rainbow Dash was frantically looking through the EQR for some sort of help, but to no use. Sweetie Belle couldn't think straight, her mind was fizzing out. There was bloody spit on the ground, everybody was running around panicking or screaming, and nobody was there to help them. Enough was enough. Screaming, Sweetie Belle leaped from her bed and began charging at the door with maximum speed. Shutting her eyes tightly, she braced for impact. Then, the pain hit.
Her head slammed up against the door, her horn heavily denting the metal. The door shuddered and moaned, but didn't give. Sweetie gasped from the pain and fell backwards with a deafening scream of agony, Her horn shivered, then burst with light, raising her into the air.
"Help!" she screamed as she was flung at the net surrounding the bleachers. Again, she shut her eyes and braced for impact, which came too quickly. But it didn't feel like net. It felt like stairs. Like bleachers. Opening one eye, she saw blood pooling around her as she landed hard against the edges of the staircase-like seats. She gasped quietly, wondering where she was bleeding. Did she cough it up, maybe?
No, she definitely didn't cough it up, that was for sure, but her head hurt like hell on earth. That must be what was bleeding. She touched her hoof to her forehead, and sure enough, it had a gash in it that was pouring blood. Everything was silent, save a slight ringing in her ears. Then, sobbing. It was nearly silent, but clear all the same.
"Hello? Who's crying?" she called, feeling tears pour down her face from the agony she was in, she was starting to feel wobbly, like she was about to pass out. But she had to keep going. She had to. She saw a little face pop out from behind a set of bleachers, then gasp.
"Sweetie Belle?" Diamond Tiara exclaimed, her bottom lip quivering. "Oh my Luna, your head! Here, I'll help you out." Diamond pulled out a large strip of thick goz and began wrapping Sweetie's wound, Sweetie still stunned by recent events. Was Scootaloo ok? How long had Diamond Tiara been up here? Why was she crying?
"Ouch!" she yelped as Diamond pushed a sewing needle into her skin. "Shh, don't move, I'm just sewing up your wound." she said, focusing carefully until she finished the stitching. "There, done.".
"What happened? Why were you crying?" Sweetie asked sympathetically. Diamond, sniffled and took a small step back, showing Sweetie Belle something she hadn't previously been aware of. Diamond Tiara was much thinner, her ribs slightly showing. She obviously hadn't been eating since the lockdown.
"I...I didn't come alone...I c-came with S-Silver S-Spoon, and...and she...she..." Diamond stammered before bursting out into tears and gesturing for Sweetie Belle to follow her before trotting around the corner. Sweetie complied, following her at the same pace, then, turning the corner to find Diamond sobbing, looking devastated as she pointed under a bleacher. Sweetie crouched down and peered under, then gasped and fell back on her bottom, kicking away from the scene.
Silver Spoon's pained looking corpse curled up, cold and stiff as a pile of vomit and blood surrounded her. Sweetie's eyes widened. The disease.
"I...I just don't know how sh-she caught it, but I d-didn't!" she choked through her tears. Tears welled in Sweetie's eyes as she thought of her friends.
"Scootaloo,"
"What about her?" sniffled Diamond, turning to Sweetie.
"She's...she's sick...she'll die..." Sweetie Belle's tears flowed silently down her face. Diamond went pale.
"It's filling up the air, Sweetie, what are we gonna do?" she cried.
Sweetie sighed and shrugged, trotting up the stairs. "How hard have you been searching for food?" she asked.
Diamond wiped her eyes. "I kind of stopped searching after yesterday, when Silver Spoon died. We s-searched together, always.".
Sweetie sighed and trotted up the stairs to the control room to look for any food. The room obviously hadn't been searched judging by the dust on the doorknob. At first the door was jammed, but after a few moments, the knob turned and Sweetie trotted carefully into the room, then screamed, and fainted.
Diamond gasped and leaped to her feet, running to find out why Sweetie had screamed. As she arrived in the frame of the door, she found Sweetie passed out on the ground. Turning to face forward, she also screamed. On the ground was a dead body, but not like Silver Spoon, this one was missing most of it's flesh, drenched in blood, barely recognizable as Noteworthy. A small squishing noise could be heard coming from one corner, muffled by an occasional grunt.
"Sweetie, wake up, now! C'mon, we have to go!" she cried, shaking Sweetie roughly in an attempt to awake her. Sweetie stirred, moaned, but didn't awaken. Diamond bit her lip, listening to the sound as it silenced abruptly. A puddle of blood began to grow on the floor as the edge of a hoof poked out slightly from under the desk. It was light purple, dipped in garnet-coloured blood.
Tears welled in Diamond's eyes as she began to realize her fate. Sweetie's fate. Both of their fates. The hoof poked out further, followed by three more and the rest of the mystery pony's body. The pony, by Diamond's memory, was Cloudchaser. But this wasn't the Cloudchaser she knew. Her entire body was soaked in blood, dotted by the occasional meat bit, bone chip, or navy blue fur. Her already messy mane was an even bigger mess than before, slightly slicked, quite greasy, and extremely bloody. Her pupils were shrunken down to dots, her eyelids occasionally twitching.
Diamond screamed at the sight, grabbing Sweetie and racing off in the other direction. Cloudchaser didn't hesitate, chasing her at full speed. Diamond suddenly realized that she wasn't running at her regular speed. Then, it hit her: Sweetie Belle. She was being weighed down by Sweetie Belle. That meant she had to make a tough decision.
"Sweetie Belle, please, please! Wake up! You have to run! C'mon Sweetie, please!" Diamond sobbed between breaths, trying her best to wake her friend. And to Diamond's incredible pleasure, she succeeded. Sweetie moaned and blinked, then caught a glimpse of Cloudchaser and shrieked.
"No, Sweetie, please! Don't pass out! You have to get up and run!"
Sweetie nodded and dove from her friend's back, galloping by her side, but as you might have guessed, her legs were quite weak from her unconsciousness. So she did the worst thing she could do. She tripped. Diamond watched in horror as Sweetie rolled back with a yelp and straight into Cloudchaser's path. Cloudchaser snarled with satisfaction as she spotted the stitch on Sweetie's forehead as Sweetie desperately clambered to her feet in an attempt to escape. CC yanked quickly at the stitch, causing a scream from Sweetie as blood poured from her head.
Diamond nearly vomited as she saw the horrible sight of all that blood, the smell was intoxicating, it was all so horrible. Diamond couldn't handle this, not alone. So she went to find the only people that could possibly help her, even in the slightest. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applebloom. And there was only one way to get there. She raced down the staircase as fast as she could, looking for the door to the rink. When she finally reached it, she found it locked. She also found blood dripping down the stairs, getting heavier as CC got closer.
With her quick mind, she came up with an idea. Pulling a broken tiara piece out of her hair, she quickly began to pick the lock with it. Tears flowed heavily from her eyes, choking on her sobs as she jammed it into the lock, her hooves shaking. The door flew open, and she ran into the ice rink, screaming like she was the one who just got eaten. Then, she was grabbed. She screamed quickly, but relaxed a little when she realized it was just Rainbow Dash.
"What the buck is going on?!" Rainbow stammered, watching the blood pour from the door. Diamond explained what had happened through sobs, Rainbow Dash dropping her onto a "bed" and flying off the check for any sign of CC or Sweetie. Then, the lights went out.
Rainbow gasped slightly as everything went dark. Knowing she couldn't possibly fly with this type of lighting, she slowly landed, wincing as her hooves became wet with blood, silently stepping up the staircase. She felt around with her wings, being careful not to hurt herself. If there was one thing she DIDN'T need, it was an injury. Or to get sick. Speaking of which, she felt a tickle in her throat. She quickly swallowed. NO way could she get sick, it was her job to protect everybody, even Apple Bloom, who seemed to be doing quite well on her own. But it was Scootaloo, all Scootaloo who had made the beds, they owed the fact that they didn't freeze to death that night, or any other nights, to her.
Rainbow clenched her teeth and shut her eyes tight, tears pouring down her cheeks. A small sob escaped her lips as she thought of Scootaloo. She grunted loudly and bucked at the ground in fry. Why the buck was nobody helping them!? They were going to die! Scootaloo was already dead, and Pinkie Pie was going next! Then, she let herself go. She collapsed to the ground sobbing loudly, tears puddling around her as she soaked her face. It was too late. Why the hell wouldn't they help them?!
When Rainbow got out of here, she had a lot to say to Celestia. thanks to her, her friends were dying. She screamed and stomped fiercely into the ground.
"GOD DAMNIT, WHY AREN'T WE GETTING HELP!?" she screamed. Just then, she heard a light 'oof', then a weight on her back. then she started getting very wet. Somebody had fallen on her. Somebody was bleeding. Then the lights flicked on, and Fluttershy's voice filled the air, she had very obviously been crying, and was also thirsty.
"We're very sorry for the blackout, we have just been informed of some fatalities." Fluttershy choked on a sob, her voice filled with tears. We'd like to show incredible amounts of respect for Spike the dragon and Scootaloo the pegasus filly. Sadly, we can not remove the bodies at this time. Please do not go anywhere near a corpse if you are to find one, just inform the front desk and move away. Goodbye. Fluttershy's soft, comforting voice ended too soon.
Rainbow looked back and saw Sweetie Belle lying on her back, a nasty, infected, newer looking stitch covering a wound on her head. Rainbow gasped and picked up Sweetie, flying her out of the room and onto her bed. Sweetie sniffled softly as she lay in her cot, but she didn't speak a word. She didn't have to. Rainbow already knew.
Rarity sobbed quietly to herself in the dark of the night, curled up in the closet where nobody could see her like this. Spike had died, right in front of her. She knew there was nothing she could have done, but it still drained her of all happiness she had ever possessed. Think mascara stains rolled down her cheeks in simple black lines. Her eyes were clenched tightly shut, but still, tears poured onto the rug beneath her. Fluttershy had let her friends have free snacks, so they were good for food. But even the polite pegasus had limits, and they had to save the food somehow. Everybody was only allowed one snack a day, unless in critical condition. That was enough to survive.
Then she thought harder. Scootaloo had died, too. "Rainbow Dash must be simply broken", she thought to herself. Rainbow had taken Scootaloo in as a sister, and now she was dead. She wondered if anypony else was dead, and Fluttershy just didn't know. Scootaloo, Spike, and some other filly reported dead right after the announcement, had been put into bubbles and removed from the rink to receive a proper burial. This infuriated Rarity. Why could they take them out, but not all the living ponies? She sighed, knowing the answer was that they couldn't live in bubbles forever.
She blinked slowly and walked over to the door of the ice rink, tapping the glass and yelling through it.
"Rainbow Dash?" she asked timidly. The familiar face of the rainbow-maned pegasus popped up, looking hopeless, rejected, and depressed, not to mention starving. Rarity cleared her throat nervously, then spoke in a croaky voice.
"Rainbow Dash, I know you must be extremely hurt by the loss of the one you loved most. I am too. Spike died out here." Rarity blinked away her tears. "But I need to talk to Sweetie Belle. Can you please call her over for me?"
Rainbow's face seemed to sink, worrying Rarity. What had happened to her sister? Rainbow went pale.
"R-Rarity, Sweetie's not doing so good. She's not infected or anything, as far as we know, but she's been exposed to a lot of infection, and she's got an infected head wound...she's been through a lot, she can't walk right now, I'm really sorry, but it would help her a lot to stay in bed." Rainbow explained.
Rarity was in tears by this point. The fact that her sister could be dying was devastating in every way imaginable. Then, Rarity's stomach seemed to flip. She felt like vomiting, a sign that appeared to be noticed by Rainbow Dash, who looked like she might have a melt down if another friend got sick. Rarity coughed harshly, each one feeling as if her neck had been stabbed. Rainbow had flown off by this point, unable to watch another friend die. Rarity had no idea how she had possibly gotten infected, if that was the case. And if it was, why was it coming on so strong? Spike's had come on slowly. She gasped. Spike.
That's how she had gotten infected. Before Spike had been taken away, she had run up to him sobbing and kissed him, security having to yank her off of him at the expense of the vision in one of their eyes. She may be a lady, but she could sure deliver quite the kick when necessary. She felt weak, limp. Then she remembered another encounter she had with the virus. Spike had left his one snack before he died, a bag of chips. Rarity had been so desperate for more food that she had devoured all the chips, filling her with Spike's poison.
Then there was Twilight, who had brought back the cloud of sickness from the ice rink. Then, she saw something big and green move past her. Another bubble. Another body. Another announcement, filled with even louder sobs than the first one, indicating that this must be a pony quite dear to Fluttershy, even dearer than Spike.
"I-I *sniff* hate to inf-form you that w-we've *sniff* had another *sob* death." she began, choking on her words. Rarity felt too weak to look up at the bubble, too weak to move, too weak to see who it contained.
"We must a-all cope t-to the fact that Pinkie Pie i-is no l-longer with us. *sob* I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore, I need a moment. *click*"
Rarity began to cry, leaving a new trail of mascara lines rolling down her face as she lay on her back, looking up at the ceiling. She was going to die there like all the others. What were they gonna do? Just wait until everybody in the rink died? Probably. Rarity suddenly felt very cold, colder than she had ever been. That's when she felt a rising in her throat, and before she knew it, she was vomiting up a bloody mess.
She glanced up, this simple movement causing her extreme pain. Fluttershy was standing over her, eyes filled with tears, running off to find Twilight. With in seconds, the lavender unicorn had arrived by Rarity's side, looking furious as she scribbled down a letter to Celestia. Knowing Rarity was one for gossip, and that she was coming to an end, Twilight read her the letter, her tears staining the page.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
Well I hope you're happy, princess. Thanks to your terrible decision, all my friends are dying. Spike isn't writing this letter, I am. Spike is dead. Pinkie Pie, Scootaloo, Silver Spoon, all dead. And now Rarity is dying too, and maybe even Sweetie Belle.Why would you let your subject die?
Your enraged student,
Twilight Sparkle.
Rarity smiled at the fact that Twilight was daring to be so bold. Then, her vision gave out, and she felt more vomit stream from her mouth. Twilight's sobs could be heard quite clearly.
"I just realized that I'll never get another letter from Celestia again. Spike is dead, I'll never hear his voice or see his face, and it's all because of that princess bitch!" Twilight screamed, bucking the wall behind her. Then, Rarity felt herself slip away. And that was that.
