It had been hours since Apple Bloom was taken, and the captors at the Everfree hot springs were planning their escape.
"Okay, here's the general idea" Spike announced to the groups of foals, scratching his plan in the dirt with a stick, "As far as I'm aware, there's only two guards. So, we have to get over the barrier and lure down the guards-"
"Then we jump them!" Scootaloo butted in.
This incited excited cheers from the ponies, prompting Spike to hurriedly hush them. "But we do it quickly and quietly," he said sternly, "we don't want them to call reinforcements. But if we take care of the guards and get out of here without attracting attention, I think we can escape."
"And rescue Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo added. Again the ponies cheered, more quietly this time. Spike smiled, it wasn't much of a plan, but it was enough. Enough to get the foals out of the Everfree forest, away from the infected, and to somewhere safe.
Overhead, the rustling of leaves alerted the group that their guards were coming down once. The ponies hastily hushed themselves as the two pegasi guards leapt down from the trees, their chuffed hooves landing in the dirt.
Then, the pegasi left the pen, walking towards the hot springs. With a look of confusion, Spike walked up to the makeshift wall of the pen, looking over to see the guards pause in the middle of the clearing.
They were joined by the infected Zecora, who passed through earlier, but now, all three of the zomponies interest seemed to be focused on the hot springs. Spike squinted, observing a figure standing at the top of the springs.
“Yes, it is I, Discord ex machina!” the draconequus proudly called out to the colts, “Here to save the day! Or at least provide a distraction.” Discord playfully knocked on the shell of Tank, whom he was wearing as a helmet, as he finished his remark.
“Now, time to take a handle on you zombie ponies!” Discord proclaimed, snapping his claw for effect. His limited chaos magic fizzled out, merely summoning a soggy tuna fish sandwich which flopped onto the ground. Discord shrugged, “Hmph, I expected that, but nonetheless.”
He picked up the sandwich and threw it, where it slapped the infected Zecora in the face. The pegasi gave an angry snarl in response and charged at the draconequus.
Spike watched as the zomponies and zomzebra attacked Discord, not noticing part of the stone barrier sparkle with magic. Sweetie Belle grunted as she strained from magic use. Sparks flickered off the tip of her horn as she attempted to pry down the barrier.
“Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo cheered upon noticing her friend, “I knew you were okay!”
“Glad to see you Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle said through her concentration, “But could I have a little help here?”
Scootaloo blinked as she realized what Sweetie Belle was doing, “Oh, oh yeah!” She motioned a hoof to Spike and the rest of the colts as they worked to pry down one of the sides of the barrier.
“Come on!” Spike called out to the crowd of fillies and foals, “Let’s hoof it out of here!” He waved at the young ponies as he led them across the clearing.
Discord looked up to see Sweetie Belle, Spike, and a whole crowd of colts dashing across the hot springs. “I guess we aren’t staying here,” he commented as the escapees ran into the forest in the direction of Ponyville. “And I guess I should follow them, maybe point them in the right direction,” he sighed, “It would be more interesting than you three,” he said to the pegasus who was gnawing on his tail.
Deciding to leave, Discord nonchalantly stuck out a leg, tripping the other pegasus and Zecora in a comedic fashion into the waters of the spring. He leisurely sauntered his way across the clearing, his tail dragging the infected pegasus along with him into the shadowed glades of the Everfree.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack continued through the darkness of the tunnel. Both were becoming bored of their ongoing trek, but they still had to reach the end of the tunnel. But eventually, both ponies became aware of something, a noise, faint at first, then louder, began to echo down the tunnel.
Applejack shut off her sparkle-light and squinted down the tunnel. She could see light, a light that seemed to shimmer in a multitude of colors.
She waved a hoof to Rainbow Dash, “Hey Rainbow! I think we’ve reached somethin’ over here!”
Rainbow Dash quickly ran up to Applejack. In unison, the two ponies crept forward until they reached what seemed to be the exit of the tunnel. It opened up into a large underground chamber. A multitude of other holes, leading to other tunnels, pocketed the walls.
Rainbow Dash gasped as she swept her gaze across the room, “Are we under- Rainbow Falls?”
The bright-colored rainbows that flowed from the clouds and rivers of the town on the surface dripped from the ceiling of the chamber. Multiple waterfalls flowed from one wall, creating a kaleidoscope of color that gathered in a large pool. These liquid rainbows created a venerable lightshow of color that sparkled on the exposed crystals of the chamber walls.
“I guess we are-” Applejack began, before suddenly stopping mid-sentence as her view met something else, “What in the hay are those things?”
Basking in the rainbow pool were a trio of black-shelled, hulking creatures. Queens of the zomponies, who had taken rest to ferment in the pools of their birth. The slick and slimy talons of the queens twitched erratically in the air, twisting towards the multitude of ponies gathered throughout the chamber. Dozens of infected zomponies lurked throughout the chamber, several belching out rainbow goo into piles while others carried what looked like oversized maggots.
“Bugs?” sputtered Rainbow, staring at the grubs and queens in disgust, “This whole time, it's been bugs?”
The whole atmosphere of the chamber shifted as all the ponies suddenly stopped moving. One of the queens in the pool, the largest of the three, gave a low grumble as she slowly shifted her fatty crest covered head; right in the direction of Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
Applejack adjusted her hooves in the dirt, “Hayseeds, I think they know we’re here!”
A sound behind her made Rainbow Dash spin around. Spin around right into the muzzle of several zomponies that snuck up behind her. “Yeah, they definitely know we’re here!” She kicked the nearest zompony in the stomach using the distraction to push Applejack out of the way of another one.
Kicking back their surprise attackers, the duo leapt over their hiding place and rolled into the central chamber. The two ponies had scarcely a moment to stand up before they were surrounded by their assailants. Staring at the dozens of blank eyes that lifelessly stared back, Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth, preparing for the worst.
But the zomponies didn’t attack, they simply stood still, silently staring at both of them.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were still as well, standing in the dirt in their combat-ready stances. They exchanged glances as a moment of silence passed.
Until the silence was broken by the largest of the queens, who gave out another low rumble. Several of the ponies in the crowd parted, making way for another one to enter and approach the duo of uninfected friends. They both watched in horror as a familiar purple alicorn walked up to them, confirming their worst fears. Twilight Sparkle approached them, the white eyes, rainbow drool, and dirty mane were signs of her infestation, but she didn’t drag her hooves like the other zomponies. She trotted with purpose.
Twilight stopped in front of the duo, who stared at her with a mix of both anger and sadness.
“What do you want?” Rainbow demanded to the alicorn, “You want to take us too? Well come and take me,” she flexed her wings at Twilight as a show of aggression.
Twilight didn’t answer at first, instead her ears twitched erratically. She blinked once as her eyes regained a faint shade of their purple hue. “Rainbow Rainbow Rainbow,” the infected Twilight began, “So feisty, even when completely surrounded.” She talked in Twilight’s voice, but clearly something else was talking. The infected Twilight had a whisper-like mocking tone to her voice.
“But I know, we all know, that none of us can take either one of you down ourselves,” Twilight continued, “Yes we can just overwhelm you, but I, and Twilight herself, prefer a less aggressive approach.” Twilight pawed her hoof in the dirt, using her wings to motion another pony into the circle. Applejack and Rainbow watched as another familiar face entered.
Rarity, looking horribly disheveled in her infected state, trotted up to the pair while keeping her distance like Twilight. Her horn flickered erratically with magic as the unicorn suspended something above her head.
Applejack needed only a second to recognize the filly.
“Apple Bloom!” exclaimed Applejack with both relief and anguish. Apple Bloom stared down in terror. She tried to answer her older sister, but her cries were quickly hushed by Rarity’s magic. Applejack quickly turned her attention back to Twilight, narrowing her eyes at the infested alicorn with a look of fury. “What do want with her?” Applejack grumbled; her eyes filled with flames of anger.
Twilight’s head twitched, as if she were having a mental debate with herself, if only for a moment. “A simple exchange,” she said, “You two let us fix you, or we kill the filly.”
“You don’t lay a hoof on her!” snarled Applejack.
The infected Twilight seemed to nearly smirk at the earth pony’s anger, “Then turn yourself in, and we let her go. Don’t, and we kill her, overwhelm you, and take over anyways. We win either way,” she paused, “I just hope, for Twilight’s sake, you choose the more peaceful option.”
“What the heck do we do?” Rainbow frantically whispered.
Then, through miraculous luck, a voice called out from above. “Yoohoo! You down there!” Everyone looked up to see the surprising sight of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, both somehow completely uninfected, looking down at them from a rocky ledge. Pinkie enthusiastically waved at the mob below, “What’s going on? Is there a party happening here or something?”
“Pinkie Pie? Why are you here?” Rainbow called up to her friends, “And how in Equestria did you cure yourself?”
“We’re here to save you!” Fluttershy yelled as loudly as she could, “From the trap here I mean,” She gripped the edge of the ledge and peered down, “Though I think we’re too late for that,” she had become more nervous at the sight of a horde of zomponies gathered below.
The largest queen grumbled plummeting the chamber into chaos. A multitude of infected pegasi leaped out of the crowd and began scaling the chamber walls towards the intruders, The rest of the zomponies shuffled amongst themselves, filling in the gaps left by the pegasi. Applejack decided to take the opportunity to strike back at the grubs.
“Sorry Twi,” she said solemnly to her infected, drawing Twilight’s attention. The infected Twilight howled with anger as Applejack struck her firmly in the snout with her hoof. With no hesitation, Applejack rammed her body into the infected alicorn, throwing the purple pony straight at the infected Rarity. The two collided, immediately disrupting the magic and making Apple Bloom fall down.
Applejack quickly caught her sister, balancing the filly on her back as she began to fight the remainder of the horde, who were no longer distracted. Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to begin fighting back as well, as she began to flap her wings and buck her hooves at the distracted zomponies. The three queens in the pool began to aggressively shake back and forth as Pinkie Pie used an oversized butterfly net to fling pegasus zomponies into the rainbow waters. Fluttershy did the best she could as well, fearfully flying away from the pursuing pack of ponies.
However, there were too many of them. The zomponies were too numerous for the friends to handle. They would surely be overwhelmed.
“We can’t hold them off forever!” Applejack yelled as she kicked away an attacking unicorn, “We need a plan! Now!”
Looking around, Rainbow Dash noticed the queens, who all seemed agitated, particularly the largest one. “I have an idea,” Rainbow yelled with conviction. She didn’t have time to tell Applejack, but the earth pony still nodded. “Boost me!” Rainbow yelled, spreading her four legs. With no hesitation, Applejack ran up and bucked Rainbow, boosting the pegasus high into the air.
Rainbow began to flap her wings as hard as she could, positioning her body to fly directly into the rainbow falls above the queens. As her body slammed against the hard stone, Rainbow clutched the wall, fighting against the multicolored current. She looked down, making sure she had attracted the ire of the queens. They stared up at her, their pentagonal mouths hissing at her.
Rainbow let out one last breath of air before she threw herself off the wall. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Apple Bloom and Applejack could only watch in horror as Rainbow Dash flung herself into the gaping maw of the largest queen. Mere moments passed until the ponies were pinned down by the infected horde.
The belly of the queen wasn’t what Rainbow expected, she didn’t know what she expected, but she didn’t expect to find herself in a warm, swirling, rainbow-hued void of color. Her hooves pawed the air, there didn’t seem to be ground, there didn’t even seem to be walls.
But as Rainbow blinked her eyes, she noticed something. A rhythmic thump resounded through her ears, and it grew louder and louder. The rainbow filled her eyes, the thump, the heartbeat filled her skull.
And Rainbow realized she could see, she could see everything. She could see the queens, the hive, everyone that they took control of. Like little spots, an interconnected web of rainbow that spread across all of Equestria.
Every spot, every individual pony, a part of the rainbow, each connected by a string to a queen, to the queen. Rainbow understood; the queen, she was the largest, the original iris grub. The one connected all the strings between every hive, every pony. The puppetmaster of it all. The heart of the hive.
That’s what she needed to do, to cut off the strings. Strangle the puppeteer. Stop the heartbeat.
But how?
But then, Rainbow heard the voice. Not like the many voices of the hive, the high-pitched little things that chattered amongst themselves, not even the voice of the queen, who calls and mockings came out as white noise in her ears. No, she heard the voice of something else. She didn’t know who, but she listened.
Rainbow listened to the voice, floating through the rainbows that matched the pallet of her mane. She followed until she found them, the rest of her friends.
Of course! They were all in one place, albeit some of them infected. She could see the six of them together in that chamber, each of them shining with their own color. Their own element of harmony.
The elements of harmony! That's what Rainbow could use! She didn’t know how or why, but the voice did, and so she listened. She felt something inside her echo out from within. She felt it in her friends as well.
Rainbow had to do this, she couldn’t let her friends down. She couldn’t- no, she wouldn’t let anyone down. She would never leave her friends behind. And so, Rainbow followed the voice. She followed it until the voices of the hive faded away and the heartbeat stopped.
All seemed to be lost in the cave underneath Rainbow Falls. The ponies had been overwhelmed and pinned to the ground by the zomponies. The queens gave a satisfied hum in the pool, watching the sight of their soon-to-be-turned captives struggle in the hooves of the horde.
Applejack blinked back tears that stung her eyes. Rainbow was gone. She had failed, failed Apple Bloom, failed her friends, failed Rainbow Dash. The pony above her didn’t care. Instead, his throat bulged, and a grub crawled out of his mouth. The grub turned its head in curiosity, staring down at Applejack with its four, glassy eyes.
But before it could enter the orange earth pony, a rumble from the rainbow pool turned its interest to the queen. The largest of the queens made a guttural moan as its bloated body began to glow from within.
In an instant, the fatty sack popped open, spilling out a splurge of rainbow goo across the chamber. The other queen’s quickly followed suit as all the zomponies began to whine with pain.
Applejack looked up with confusion as the grub meant for her began to twitch erratically, its head twisting unnaturally. She clenched her eyes shut as the grub then projectile vomited out the entire contents of its body, covering the pony with a thick layer of rainbow.
Applejack watched with delight as she stood up and observed as this spread throughout the rest of the zomponies as the ponies ejected their parasites. Every grub, in every pony, was soon vomited out, emitting high-pitched squeals before they curled up and died on the spot.
Calls of confusion and moans of tiredness began to emanate from the mob as the uninfected ponies began to stand up and take in their surroundings. Applejack hugged her sister with joy, it was over, the rainbow plague was gone!
Amongst the crowd, Twilight Sparkle shook her head in confusion as her memories came flooding back. She looked down, staring at the repulsive maggot that had resided in her body. The thing was dead now, its legs lifelessly curled up in the air. The grubs were of no threat anymore, but just in case, Twilight stomped a hoof down on the grub's head, giving out a satisfying crunch.