Dear Princess Twilight;
I am sorry to inform you that the plight that has taken over your beloved little town has now been reported in every city in our fair kingdom. From the Crystal Empire, all the way south to Appleloosa.
I seem to remember something like this happening in the past... or was it just a foals story I read... At any rate, My dear student, stay strong and continue your search. We must find a cure, at any cost, before the animals of the forest become more than even the Wonderbolts can handle.
Your friend,
Celestia.
Fluttershy’s eyelids fluttered open. The first thing she was aware of was the pain. Oh the pain! It was everywhere. Her face, her wings, her legs, but most especially her side. A firm weight was settled on her right forehoof.
She turned her eyes in that direction, sitting beside her was a pony, her coat was blue, and her mane a full assortment of colors... a rainbow... Rainbow Dash. She hissed with pain as she tried to shift her body to see her old friend better.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Rainbow said sternly, laying a strong wing gently across Fluttershy’s torso. “Doc says you have to lay still, remember?”
Fluttershy blinked, somewhat confused by the statement. “Where- where... am I?” She asked in a weak whisper.
“The hospital Fluttershy,” Dash said, biting her lower lip. “Remember?”
She looked up at Dash in confusion. “Why... am I... here? Where is... Angel?”
Rainbow’s ears pinned down against her head. She looked up just in time to see Doctor Stables walk in. “Here’s the Doc,” she said soothingly to her foalhood friend. “I’ll let him explain it to you.”
“Explain what?” He asked looking down at the two.
Rainbow bit her lip.
“Why... am... I...” Fluttershy took a painfully deep breath, hissing through her teeth, “here? What... what happened?”
Doctor Stable looked down at his clipboard. Frowning, he stepped around to the other side of the bed where Fluttershy could see him. “Now Miss Shy, it is important that you lay back and relax, please don’t become alarmed.” That was never a good way to start any discussion; especially when it was a doctor who was saying those words. “Take a deep breath for me.”
Fluttershy did as she was told, wincing as her broken rib protested the movement. Why did her side hurt? she wondered, looking fearfully up into the doctor’s face.
He pulled up a chair and took her other hoof in both of his in a comforting manner. “Miss Shy, you have had a serious accident. Nopony is sure why, but the animals of Equestria are going berserk. I fear we are without cause at the moment. One source keeps complaining about a high pitched scream, but I’m unsure if it is even related. Definitely, it’s a kind of insanity that has gripped every animal; wild, or domesticated.
“During the early hours of the madness, your woodland friends turned their insanity towards you. They have all been captured and locked away until we can figure out the reason why, and prevent any further injuries to either animals or ponies. At the moment, you were the only one hurt. But you have sustained a broken rib, as well as numerous lacerations to the face, torso, neck, and legs. There is nothing we can do for the rib, so you must stay flat and immobile until the bone has sufficiently mended itself for you to move again.”
Fluttershy stared up in a blank haze, worry suddenly filling her eyes. “But, my animals would never do something like that!” She gasped, horrified at the very thought.
“As I said Miss Shy, it was an insanity that has gripped the animals. As far as I know, none of them have been spared the plight.” Doctor Stable’s face remained calm.
“Why can’t she remember?” Rainbow asked worriedly. “Did she hit her head?”
Doctor Stables patted Fluttershy’s hoof. “If you’ll excuse us for a moment.” He laid her weak hoof down on the bed, then guided Rainbow Dash into the hall.
“Miss Rainbow, I do not think there is anything wrong with your friend’s mind.”
Rainbow’s wings flared out as she got right into his face. "What?!, what are you saying! That could be the only thing that could explain that.”
“Please calm yourself, getting excited won’t help either you, nor her. It isn’t unheard of for a pony to put up mental blocks to something that they don’t want to remember.” He took a deep breath, laying a hoof gently on the blue mare’s shoulder. “Miss Dash, I don’t think she ever expected for something like this to happen. Her friends, her pets, her animals; creatures she’s been around, helped deliver, watched grow up, rear young of their own, these animals were the ones that just attacked her. She can’t believe it! It’s a very common thing I’ve seen in my years in the medical field. It’s just one way, some ponies use in dealing with stress. We may have to tell her this over, and over, and over again before her mind comes to grasps with the fact that it really did happen. What she needs, is for you to be there supporting her. She’s confused, in pain, and afraid. Keep doing what you are doing, and try to keep her down.”
Rainbow Dash’s body was deflated, dark rings and bags adorned her dull eyes. Doctor Stable examined her for several moments. “Miss Dash?”
Rainbow shook her head to clear it. “I heard you...” she gulped. “She really can’t remember?”
“I’m afraid she can’t at the moment. Now, I have a question for you; Are you sleeping?”
“I guess I have off an on,” She replied, yawning right afterward.
“There is a fold out chair in her room, I suggest the next time she drifts off, you get some rest. If not, I’ll send a nurse in there to sedate you. I don’t want you going mad from lack of sleep.”
Rainbow Dash made a face. “Alright, you don’t have to use force Doc, I get it.”
He patted her gently on the shoulder. “Now, let’s go back in there and see how she’s doing otherwise. In his mind, however, he was quite concerned about how little Fluttershy had remembered from the event. This wasn’t right... It left him with as much unease as had the animal's actions had earlier. He made a mental note to watch the two closely. While he wasn’t sure, he dreaded the possibility of them both going mad as well.
Twilight sighed in relief, having finally gotten Spike to sleep. She leaned back in her throne and closed her eyes as she racked her brain for anything that might help her figure out what was going on. Her mind wandered back to the letter, causing her to cringe internally. This was happening everywhere else too… and there have been other cases around Equestria like Fluttershy’s; some far more serious. A wave of exhaustion and stress washed over her, choking her mentally as she tried desperately to hold onto one thought long enough to focus. She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, bringing her hoof to her chest. As she released the breath, she stretched her hoof out and opened her eyes, lighting up her horn and bringing a piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink closer to her. Maybe writing the facts would help her focus.
Just as she was about to start writing, the door to the throne room burst open, and Pinkie and Applejack galloped in, sliding to a halt at the Cutie Map. “Twilight!” They both said at once.
She jerked in surprise at the anxious shouts and looked up. “Girls? What is it? What’s wrong?” Worry was written across her face.
The two began to ramble off, making little sense as they talked over one another.
“The apples! They’re gone!”
“THE CAKE DISAPPEARED RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES!”
“It’s them bats ah tell ya!”
“IT’S A GHOST!”
“After everythin’ that’s goin’ on, now this!” Applejack stomped the ground, snorting and huffing in frustration.
“WE’RE ALL DOOMED!” Pinkie shouted at the top of her lungs before she let out a long gasp and collapsed to the ground, pretending to choke and die for emphasis.
Twilight blinked, her bewildered gaze mostly on her pink haired friend. Applejack looked at Pinkie Pie as well, her tongue hanging out of her mouth with her eyes wide open as she looked between the two confused mares. She bounced to her hooves and gasped again. “Ohmigosh! You’re here because the food is disappearing? What a coincidence! I am too!” A bubbly grin was plastered across Pinkie’s face as she stared at Applejack.
The farm mare shook her head and sighed. “Right…”
“I’m sorry…” Twilight interrupted the two suddenly and looked between them. “Could you two slow down… and talk one at a time… I didn’t catch any of what you just said.”
Angel shook his head out, grinding his teeth together as he battled against the mentally controlling aspects of the bug’s presence. The fluffy, glowing insects were everywhere; there was no more escape from them. He hopped rapidly through the town, trying to avoid the ponies; who were all oddly colored now. He wondered why none of them seem bothered by this fact either. It was as if.… He stopped. They couldn’t see it. Nor could they hear it. His eyes widened in realization as he began hopping, now much faster as he raced towards Twilight’s castle.
Once there, Angel bounded towards the door and began to thump on it rapidly with his back paw. If the answer to this was anywhere, it was most definitely with Twilight.
Waiting patiently, and cautiously, he stood on the doorstep, ears twitching for any sudden movements. From inside the building, he could hear screams of pain. Angel bit his lower lip; afraid of what it could mean.
Finally, the door swung open. A very disheveled Twilight opened the large door. “Who...” The alicorn’s eyes widened as her eyes fell on the little white bunny. “Oh Celestia no!”
Angel didn’t have any time to do anything. Twilight suddenly had a large net and was stampeding towards him at full speed. Angel jumped and dodged, slipping between her legs.
The little white rabbit had been to the castle many times before. So he didn’t need any directions to the library. As if he could even ask. Twilight didn’t speak rabbit like Fluttershy did.
He glanced behind him to see Twilight hot on his tail, lighting her horn to grab him with her magic. He turned the corner and began weaving his way through the back hallways, soon coming across a tiny mouse hole in the wall and hopping towards it. He forced himself through the little hole, the mice that might’ve lived there long gone now, and hunkered down to hide. He heard hoofsteps race through the corridors, stopping suddenly in front of him.
Angel sucked in a breath and watched, anxiously waiting until finally, the purple hooves turned and walked away. He waited for what seemed to be forever after the hooves disappeared into silence before finally daring to peek out. He glanced around for any sign of the pony before pulling himself out of the small hole, rolling out and smacking into the wall due to his momentum.
He got to his paws and rubbed his head, glaring at the wall before hopping quickly towards the library.
It had been several days since his escapade through the castle. Angel had spent the rest of his time hunting for anything in the library that could explain the strange going on's that he’d seen. The noise and the bugs had continued to drive him mad. At one point, the insanity had gotten so bad, he had ended up toppling every book case and strewing the books from one end to another. Surprisingly enough, the books he had already pulled managed to avoid the destruction.
During his rare bouts of sanity, he carefully stacked the other books into piles as he glanced them over for anything that could help his current situation, skimming whatever book looked like it might hold the answer.
Heaving, he covered his ears as a swarm of the fuzzy locus pressured down upon him. Angel’s stomach growled, cramping painfully from his lack of food.
Angel knew there was food just outside the library... but there also was a trap just outside the library as well. Twilight didn’t want him getting out and... causing a repeat of what had already happened. He cringed and his ears flopped down as he thought of Fluttershy, thankful that she was going to eventually be ok. With her in mind, he shoved away his thoughts of hunger and continued to scan the books, flipping quickly through the pages for any information.
Frustration took ahold of the bunny for probably the millionth time as he growled and chucked the worthless book behind him, it bumping into the shelf at his back. It had caused one of the few books that remained on the shelves to lean and fall off. Angel looked up just in time to see it and his eyes widened as he rolled out of the way. The book landed mere centimeters from him and he got up, looking at the title. It was an old, leather bound book, the title worn away and the pages yellowed from time. He ran a paw across it, taking away a layer of dust with him. He frowned and sucked in a breath, blowing away the dust and wiping off what little would remain before grabbing and lifting the book open to a random page.
His eyes fell directly to an illustration of the fluffy insects that were plaguing Ponyville and a sense of hope rushed through him as he slammed the book shut and picked it up, racing to the door of the library.