//------------------------------// // Emergency meeting: Body reported. // Story: There is one infected among us.. // by Arial_Dreemmurr //------------------------------// The sound of a loud scream filled the castle, reaching every room and anyone in it. Rainbow Dash immediately turned away from her task, recognizing the source. "Fluttershy!?" She asked, looking both confused and worried at the same time. Apple Jack did the same just a quick second after and shared the same look Dash did. They shared a quick look before the rainbow pegasus sped off to where the sound came from. Apple Jack followed soon after but couldn't keep up with her friend's speed. Dash almost burst through the storage area, looking to see what was wrong. Her expression immediately turned from worry to horror as she laid her eyes on the room. There were many boxes knocked down and smashed, but worst of all, right between one of them was a pool of blood that covered most of that area with a lifeless Pinkie Pie lying in the middle. Looking a bit more to the left side, Dash spotted her other friend splattered in blood next to her, her eyes full of tears that came down her cheeks like waterfalls. The rainbow pegasus got back to ground level, glancing from one friend to another for a few seconds before tears started to form in her eyes as well. "Fluttershy..? What..?" was all she managed to get out before more tears interrupted her. Not being able to get any words out, she joined Fluttershy, sitting closely next to her letting some of the blood get on her coat, before just looking at the pink pony before them. It wasn't long after that Apple Jack made her way to storage too, before seeing the body and the two ponies next to it. She had the same reaction Dash did before but left the room instead. When she came back, Twilight and Rarity were with her, as Twilight asked the other two that were still there to leave the room. "Okay, now that everyone is here, what happened?" Twilight asked the ponies before her who all met up in the map room not long after the incident. "Fluttershy, you were there with her. Do you know anything?" Still, in tears, she quietly answered. "N-No.. I don't know what happened at all. It was so sudden, I-.." She tried explaining before tears cut her off again. She was quickly comforted by Rainbow Dash who had put her wing around her. "Twilight, I don't think we should ask Fluttershy anything right now." "Yea, you're right.." The alicorn nodded but quickly continued. "But there has to be someone that maybe saw anything suspicious?" "Not me," Dash responded again. "I was working on the wires she whole time. Apple Jack can confirm." Apple Jack nodded. "Indeed, Ah can. What do you think happened Twi?" "I don't know. But I do know that there hasn't been anyone going through the force field around the castle, so whoever did this, has to be one of us." Her face turned more terrified as she came to her conclusion. "One of us must be infected.." Everyone stayed quiet, only looking around at everyone in the room. "W-What now?" Rarity dared to ask, hearing her conclusion. Twilight took a quick second to think before she spoke again. "From what I've seen, a pony infected doesn't admit to being infected easily. We'll have to find out together who it might be so the rest can stay safe." "But how? No one saw anything, right?" Dash asked, still holding the yellow pegasus tight. "I think it's best to question everyone first. Dash, where were you throughout the day?" She asked, not breaking eye contact with the mare. Dash soon answered, keeping her voice straight. "After I asked you where the tools were, I picked them up at storage and stayed in the map room fixing the wires. I never left that room after that. Apple Jack?" She asked the earth pony again. "That's true, Twi." Apple Jack confirmed again. "As for me, Ah emptied the garbage in the map room, took it to the place ya told me and went back to put a new bag in. Ah saw Rarity there too, but most of my time was spent in the map room with Dash." "I see.." Twilight moved on to the last name that was mentioned. "Rarity, what about you?" "I was just finished with the first room on the map you gave me when I heard the scream and later got asked by Apple Jack to follow her. She was the one that told us two about it remember?" The alicorn quickly nodded. "Yea, I remember. Now, Fluttershy. You were closest to Pinkie and you have her blood all over you. What happened while you were with her?" "I.." Fluttershy started, trying her best to keep talking. "I was just doing my t-tasks when I heard Pinkie Pie scream from under me.." Her face turned distressed again. "I didn't know what to do.. I panicked. My first thought was to see if she was still alive so I could do something. When I didn't feel or hear anything from her, I panicked even more and yelled something myself." She looked over to the rainbow pegasus next to her. "That's when you came in.." She said before bursting into tears again, with Dash comforting the pegasus. Hearing all their stories, with all of them sounding legit, Twilight let out a sigh. "I don't think this isn't going to get us very far.." She thought for a second before looking back into the room. "I know this will be a risk, but I think we should maybe let it be for now and see if we can catch whoever it was. The best we can do now is look for any suspicion between all of us." "But what about.. Pinkie..?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "And the storage..?" "I'll.." The alicorn looked away for a second before looking back at the mare. "Take care of it. Clean some mess up, probably put away her body somewhere where it'll be safe to stay." Everyone slowly and quietly nodded. They decided to keep their tasks for the next day and see what'll happen then, with all of them sure to keep their eye out for anything suspicious.