//------------------------------//
// 2 
// Story: The Idemoni 
// by BetaWolfs 
//------------------------------//

The streets of Ponyville lay barren as Twilight stepped light hoofsteps onto the concrete pathways with worry. She peeked into a few homes; only finding cowering ponies and terrified foals. Of course, she didn't want to be there; or, well, so she thought, but it was clear that she wouldn't be let back into the castle until her friends were found.

..To be honest, she was too worried about her friends to go home, anyway.

She began her way to Sugarcube Corner, one of the places she knew her friend Pinkie Pie resided at. It was a very fun building; pink and brown roof, the bright colors, and the feel of the whole place that made it seem like a candyland rather than a shop. She would frequent there whenever she wanted and sort of sweet treat, and they would always deliver.

Twilight was getting hungry just thinking about it. 

Her steps were slow but meaningful, every so often catching a glance of the ponies worriedly looking upon the purple princess as she walked the disease-ridden streets.

...She stopped suddenly, feeling something. As if something, or somepony, was behind her.

She felt a slow gust of air hit her back and travel down to her hooves and into the ground below. Her mouth was unmoving, and a blank stare covered her face.


...

The air was heavy, wasn't it? Was it normally this.. claustrophobic..?

Twilight felt a strange need to just lay back down and return back to her castle and just assume her friends were alright.

..there's no way they need to be checked on.

..

Thoughts began to cloud her head like a catchy song, refusing to quit playing in her ears.

I need to go home now.

I need to get home.

I need to get home now or else I'll die out here.

I'm going to die out here. 

There's no way-... 

...

Twilight let out a shaky breath.

What was she doing? 

Why was she worrying?

She gasped suddenly, feeling something brush her cheek with a slow and slightly cold hoof. She was petrified.

A quiet, but painfully terrifying sound played. Or.. was it just in her head..?

"Á̷̧̻͙̭̞̬͔̠̃̈̿͛̊͝Ë̵͕̝̞̳̱̥̞̪́͛̆̓͑̕S̷̢̨̩̭̼͚̜͉̪̲̼̭̗̻̅̒͛̆̈́̂̏ ̵̪̬̣̳͑̓̌̌͗̒͛̆͂̈͘͜ ̶̢̢̪̮̦̎̏͋̾F̵̧̨͓͍͔͔̺̭̝̖͐D̵̡͉̭́̉͐̂̄̒͛͗͛̎̐̕̕S̶̛͈͒͆̑́ ̷̲̤͉̇̍̀G̵̢̬̥̬̹̺̟͙̪͔̺̎̆̆̎̈͗̓̎̈́͘H̷̡͇̥̋͑̅̓̾̓͌̑͛͘͝͝ͅJ̷̨͉̳͖͈͚̤͈͓͕͔̈́̆̆͌̕͠V̴̧̪̯̻̪̪̣̬̯̗̗̈͌̔̿͐ ̸̹̄̉͝B̴̞͙̻̭̖̖͕̅Ḡ̴̡̨̳̼͓̺̭̖̗͑Ḑ̴̨̙̫̙̩̳͖͈̥͊̑̈͑̽͊̋̎̚͝ͅͅĊ̸̞̀̆́̀̐̓͒̽͑͗̂G̶̨̨͔͚̔̉.̶̨̺͇͎̗̙͙̘̱̜̥͕̦̦̈͗͒̍́̐̿̇̎̏͂.̷̦̟̝̎͗̎̾͒̀͘͘͘͝.̵̨̨͓̩̱̤͖̠͕̮̳̈́̔̆̓̈̽̇̇̀̐̕̚͝.̵̛̙̀͆̀̌̑͌͋̈́̆͝H̸̡̗̜̦̭͎̱̬̹̯̥͂̊̒̔̾̀̎̕̕G̶̱͖̞̦̼̺̗̥͇͖͔̭͓͒̏̐͑͂̈́͒͘͜ͅ " 

..it was static.

Why... was static playing?

The static sounded painful, as if somepony was trying to scream but the static was all that could come out. It sounded like words were supposed to come out as well, but they were muffled by the loud, chilling noise.

Ĩ̶͙̗̦̬͙̺͔̱͓̯̉̃́̍͋͗̕ ̵̨̡̯̘͎̮͚̥͇̹̳̎̈́͐͂̒͗̓̓̃̈͌͝͝͠ͅW̷̡͎̞̹̯͛̾͂̆̄̓̾͗̽͛͝ͅȈ̷̛͍̞̜̏͗̌̊̀̿͑̀̌̈́̕̕Ǩ̶̦̞̯͇̤̱͇̞̜̻̹̞̋̾̌͂̿̓̀̂̈́̎͝S̶̡̨̧̛̱͉͓̯͙͋̂͐̌͆̾͛̔̔̈̿̌̚͝ͅͅK̷̹͙͖̗̘̩̤̒̑̌̀͌͐̂̆̋͑Ḩ̵̧̣̬̘͇͚̭̪̲̪̝̖̼̇̍͋̇̔̒̿͐̃͝͠ ̵̢̢̗̗͇͎̣͒͒Y̴̲͚̳̥̮͚̓̑̔͊͗̂H̶͙͋̈́̔̂̽͘Ḩ̶̧̲̱̯̙̓̉̽̃̀̈́͋̏O̸̡̨̠̺̞̣̹͇͛̄̎̕͜͜U̴̡̧̡̱̣͈̣͍̳̬͚͈̺̍̇̓̏̈́͆̔͊̏͐͑͋͘͝ ̴͖̖̳̙̟̄̅Ą̵̣̳̻͕̮̦͓̈K̷̢̛̤̩͈͎͈̝̬͖̯̦̯̲̝͊̀̇̀̈́̓̏̒̋̆̀ͅL̶̪̭̰͖̲͚̠͙̜̤̆̄͊̃͆̈́̔͛̈́̕ͅL̸̨͎̻̦̖̻͚̄̅͐́̓̈͋̓͝ ̸̘̮̩̂̈́̄̽͐́͌͐̇̚Ţ̸̛̣͕̞̻̼̦̉̈́͗̇̀͆̇͂̓̈́͒̓̚K̴̡͔̪̼̥̠̦̥̺͇͙̙̫̫̀̈͑̏̽̋̏̽̀͐̅͋̈ͅŌ̷̡͕̜̰̝̩̒̆̊͌͒̊ ̵̢̟͖̠̰̳̰̯̮̱̙̺͚̤̃̿̈́͆H̸͓͖͒̔͒̉̾̔̊͊͑̃͗͠G̵̛͉͍̗̞̜̼̤͔̽͊͂͝H̴̨͚̳͙͎͇̍̅͗̐͘͜͠E̷̢̛̫̮̱̫̜̯͖͚͂̾̏͐̈̍̇̉̓͘͝͠͝͝ͅĻ̸̛̰͓̠͖̱̟̺͎̎́̑̈̑̒̽́͘̕Ĺ̴̡̨̢̡̮̙̱͕̙̞̱͎̩͋̀̿͗̔̾͋͊̆̽̅̓͝͝

Twilight tried to scream, but all she could to was painfully sit and listen to the sounds. She wanted to cry, but nothing was coming up.

...What in the world was this..?

...She closed her eyes, and, finally, was able to omit a loud, startling scream.

The world around her seemed to stop. She was alone- she was alone in this dark world being infested by AE37U, the soon-to-be death of all ponykind and what will finally break the bond between her and her friends.

She felt like she had the right to scream.

...She was stuck in the scream for what felt like hours, until her voice finally died out and left nothing but a sad, lonely, and cold princess on the ground with true horror in her eyes.

Her breaths were slow and heavy, as if she had just run a five mile run, or had just finished a long exercise. Her eyes stayed glued shut, as she didn't want to see if the static creature she felt and heard earlier was still lurking around the midnight-haired pony. She could do nothing but sit in silence and wish it all to be over.

...Oh, what Twilight would give to have wishes be real.

------------------------------- 

"Luna, dear sister! What plans might you have this evening? I have a.."

Celestia coughed.

"...Problem- to discuss."

Luna took a glance over, to see Celestia looking down at a scroll, a quill entrapped in her magic being piloted by her horn as she wrote down small words on the scroll with ease.

"...Well, I do not see why not. What is there to talk about?" Luna asked. She took a few steps to get over to Celestia's throne, and took a gentle seat next to it.

"...Well, it is.. quite a problem... a disease has been spreading across Equestria at.. rapid pace. It is said to be so contagious that nopony can be near them without a hazmat suit or other safety precautions."

Celestia placed her scroll and quill down on the chair rest next to her, and took a sad glance at Luna before turning away quietly.

"...W-Wait- w-whatever do you mean? E-Everypony has been healthy- there's been.." Luna was at a loss for words, trying to disprove Celestia's statement.

"..I'm afraid it is true. It's placeholder name is 'AE37U', well- until it truly gets identified."

Celestia's voice cracked as she tried to speak.

"H-How long have you been up about this...? Celestia- this is truly bad for your health, I-" Luna tried to say.

"My health has nothing to do with it! I need to save these ponies from a disease that will ruin Equestria piece-by-piece!" Celestia shouted absentmindedly.

"I'm sure ponies can last long enough for you to take a rest. -Please, get some sleep and I will not be bothering you again."

Celestia sighed defeatedly, the bags under her eyes clear that she had been up for over two days straight.

"..As long as you keep close watch in my place, dear sister," Celestia agreed. Luna nodded joyfully, and quickly pushed Celestia off the throne and to the direction of her large sleeping quarters.

"I would do nothing less. Off to bed now!" Luna yelped. Celestia said nothing, and just began to walk to her bed in a haze.

'At least she was getting rest now,' Luna thought. She quickly placed herself on the throne, smiling at the feeling of the soft cushion under her body.

Now just to find out what ponies are so intimidated by!

It can't be so bad, right? A single disease is far too small to wipe out a whole species-

-Right?