“How are they doing?”
“They have gotten worse, princess. I do not think they will last another night.”
Cadance sighed.
“That is not all. There have been three more incidents so far today. It seems to be spreading, and we cannot find the cause.”
“Have you sent my letter to Celestia?”
“Yes, but we did not receive any answer yet.”
“I hope she sends somepony quickly.”
“Do you want to seem them now?”
“Yes, please.”
Cadance entered the small hospital.
“This way, princess. I will show you the newest cases first.”
They entered a small room. Three beds were separated by curtains. On each bed, lay a restrained crystal pony, watched by a nurse.
“It is the same thing that happened yesterday. Each of these ponies became violent without any apparent reason, and started attacking other ponies. With some effort, we managed to restrain them. After a few hours, a dark spot appeared over their cutie marks.”
The doctor pointed at the nearest pony's cutie mark. The skin under the cutie mark was visibly darkened.
“The dark spot is already starting to grow. If it follows the same progression as the other two, by tomorrow it will have already covered most of their body, followed by high fever.”
“Do you have any idea what is this disease?”
“Unfortunately, no. It does not seem to be physical. I had a unicorn take a look, and she could not find any magical residue either.”
-*-*-*-
“How did it go, dear?”
“I am worried.”
Cadance walked to the balcony.
“Three more ponies have caught the disease.”
In the street below, an altercation began. One pony started attacking any pony who came near him.
Cadance looked from above, worried, while a couple of guard ponies attempted to hold down the attacker.
“Looks like we have another one. If Celestia does not send us help soon, I do not know what we will do.”
“I am sure Celestia will not fail us.”
The sky was replaced by a purple dome.
“A barrier?” said Shining Armor. “Looks like Twilight's. Did Celestia send her?”
Seven black objects, looking like flattened spheres with wings, passed through the barrier, gliding silently towards the castle.
The last of the objects sent a beam of light towards the street, vaporizing both guard ponies and their prisoner.
“What are they doing?” exclaimed Shining Armor, while Cadance stared at the scorch mark on the ground.
The bottom of the leading object opened. A sphere of purple light floated from the opening towards the balcony. While Cadance and Shining Armor retreated, the sphere landed on the balcony.
“Twilight?” asked Shining Armor.
“I am sorry for being late,” said the lavender pony, still within the spherical barrier. Her eyes were completely covered by a pair of round metallic glasses.
“WHAT. DID. YOU. DO.” Cadance jumped at Twilight's barrier, hitting it with her front hooves several times.
“I did what I had to do. These three ponies were already contaminated. Killing them now was better than letting them suffer.”
Cadance hit Twilight's barrier with a beam.
“I am not recognizing you, Twilight. The Twilight I know would try to find a way to save them. Not kill them in cold blood, like you just did. What would our parents say if they saw that?”
“There was no way to save them.”
Cadance hit Twilight's barrier with a stronger beam.
“What happened to you, Twilight?”
Cadance hit Twilight's barrier with her head.
Twilight Sparkle ignored Shining Armor's question and looked at Cadance.
“I see. So you are infected too. What a pity.”
Shining Armor only had the time to look at his wife's cutie mark, where he saw a small black spot. Before he could react, the largest of the objects, the one which had been carrying his sister, fired a wide beam of light towards his wife.
In less than a second, there was only a scorch mark left.
Anger flared on Shining Armor's face.
“TWILIGHT!”
He sent a strong beam, not towards Twilight, but towards Twilight's vehicle.
A previously invisible barrier surrounding the vehicle stopped Shining Armor's beam.
“Very astute. Attacking the biggest and least defended threat first. No wonder you were the captain of the royal guard.”
“WHY?”
“This disease might have been news for you, but I have been researching it for a while. There is no cure, and you would not like to know what emerges from the diseased pony's body at the end.
“How about you join us, my brother? We both have a strong sense of justice. We both want to protect Equestria. Together, we can make sure events like this disease do not happen again.”
“Justice? Protecting Equestria? All I see here is a cold-blooded murderer, who kills ponies using some flimsy excuse, without giving them any chance!”
“It is unfortunate that I could not make you see my point of view. I would have been happy, had you accepted joining me. It is sad that joining me would never have been possible. You did not notice, but you are contaminated too.”
“What?”
Shining Armor looked at his cutie mark. It was a small dot, but it was there. A small black dot.
“I am sorry, brother. I could not save you. Goodbye.”
-*-*-*-
Twilight Sparkle returned to her vehicle, leaving behind two scorch marks.
All seven vehicles ascended, and began firing indiscriminately, targeting all the buildings and all the ponies.
The whole city was destroyed, shattered like glass.
-*-*-*-
It is with great sadness that I have to report that the Crystal Empire was destroyed by an unexplained phenomenon. The help arrived too late to avert the disaster.
To prevent this from happening again, I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that a special unit, composed of the best ponies in all of Equestria, shall be created to protect against unforeseen threats.
This special unit shall be headquartered on a new fortress, constructed at the former location of the Crystal Empire. I hereby nominate my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, as its Administrator.