Applejack sighed as she pulled her cart. It had been a long day, but market hours had finally drawn to a close; and as the sun made its way through the sky, its rays beating down on her and Big Mac, they headed back to the farm, pulling both their cart as well as Golden Harvest’s carrot stand.
As they walked down the dirt path that led to Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack’s mind couldn’t help but wander back to the events of the previous day, and to the mare waiting for them back at the farm.
Yesterday morning, she had awoken to frantic knocks on the farmhouse’s door, and soon found herself facing a frazzled and shocked Golden Harvest, the carrot farmer had been stammering incoherent words through her constant sobbing. Applejack tried to calm her and ask her just what in Tartarus happened when she noticed the source of Golden’s distress.
Needless to say, Golden hadn't been the only one who was shocked that morning.
She inhaled deeply as she felt that same sensation gripping her guts and kept walking, there was little use in thinking about it, and there was nothing she could do besides being there for her fellow farmer.
In an effort to steer her mind away from yesterday's events, Applejack turned around and faced her brother. "You're gonna put Golden’s cart in the farmhouse with ours, Mac?” she asked.
“Eeyup,” he replied laconically. "I may go to the new field. See if I can get that rock out."
“Good, I’m gonna see if there's any—” she started but was interrupted by a yell coming from one of the roads behind them.
“Applejack! Big Mac!” Apple Bloom cried as she ran towards her siblings.
“Apple Bloom?” asked a confused Applejack, she looked up at the sky and then back at her sister, “School ain't over yet, what are you doing out here?”
The filly skidded to a stop in front of her siblings, trying desperately to catch her breath. Applejack was about to scold her when she noticed her sister was shaking and was visibly shocked, “Apple Bloom? Yer alright?”
“It happened again!” she yelled between gasps for air, fear visible in her eyes. “What happened to Miss Harvest happened again!”
Applejack stepped back, speechless; she gave her brother a quick look and saw that he was equally surprised. She then looked back at her little sister. “How did you…?”
“I heard you yesterday when you were talkin' with Miss Twilight and the doctor,” the filly said while squirming in place.
“Oh, Apple Bloom...” Applejack scolded her.
“I know, I know. And I’m sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop and I know I should have told you, but that’s not important right now.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in hopes of calming her nerves before she spoke, “It happened again, at school.”
“Wh-what do you mean, ‘Bloom?” Applejack asked, even though deep down she could already imagine what happened.
Apple Bloom closed the distance between them and placed a hoof on Applejack’s before speaking again.
“Diamond Tiara lost her cutie mark,” she said, biting her lip.
“By Celestia... She was right,” Applejack murmured as a chill went down her spine.
“Did Cheerilee let you go after that?” Big Mac asked, worried as well.
“Well… Not exactly...” the filly said with a hint of embarrassment.
Big Mac gave her a look of confusion, and silently prodded her for more information.
Being under the scrutiny of both of her siblings caused Apple Bloom to start feeling the guilt she didn't feel earlier due to her quick escape from school. “When... when we found out that Diamond had lost her cutie mark, I just—I mean, a lot of us just... Uh... We ran away,” she admitted as she avoided their gaze in shame.
“Apple Bloom!” Applejack said in a slightly chastising tone.
“I’m sorry, but I had to tell you!” the filly yelled, “you’re the only ones who know about what’s happening, and Miss Twilight’s Library was too far from the schoolhouse.”
Applejack’s eyes darted back and forth as she thought about what to do. She suspected at least some ponies must have realised something odd was going on in town, and if Apple Bloom was telling the truth, then the fillies and colts who ran away from Cheerilee's class would only serve to confirm the town's fears. Having made her decision, she turned towards her brother and spoke up.
“Big Mac, let’s take the carts to the farmhouse, then I’ll go talk to Twilight,” she said.
Big Mac nodded, “I’ll check on Cheerilee."
“I’ll come with you,” Apple Bloom said, but she was quickly interrupted by her sister.
“No,” Applejack said firmly, “You’re goin’ back to the farm with Big Mac.”
“What!? But sis, I wanna help too! I don't wanna stay in the farm...” the filly whined with a slightly hurt expression on her face.
“And you will help, Apple Bloom,” Applejack knelt down until she was at eye level with her little sister, “I want you to stay with Granny Smith and take care of Golden Harvest while we’re gone.”
Apple Bloom scrunched her muzzle and looked down, but Applejack lifted her chin and forced the filly to look at her, “That poor mare has been through a lot, ‘Bloom, and you know it. I ain’t sure of what will happen once word comes out, but I don’t want her to worry more than she already has.”
Apple Bloom was still avoiding her sister’s gaze, but still let out a grunt of agreement. “M’kay, sis..."
“Thank you, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said in a tender voice.
“I’ll take the carts, AJ, you go see Miss Twilight,” Big Macintosh said, taking a step forward.
Applejack gave him a quick nod and unlatched the cart off her back, she then turned around to face Ponyville. “I’ll try to get back as soon as I can!” she yelled as she galloped towards Ponyville.
“C’mon, ‘Bloom,” Big Mac said as he attached the apple cart to the carrot stand he was already pulling, “let’s go home.”
Apple Bloom looked at the path and at the shrinking figure of her sister in the distance.
"Everything will turn out fine, you'll see," he said as as he walked, pulling both carts.
Apple Bloom hesitated before turning around to follow her brother; for some reason, she didn't fully believe him.
A bright light flashed inside of Golden Oaks Library, signaling the return of a certain mare. Twilight fell to the floor with her hooves clutching her head; she could feel her magic going crazy inside of her brain, and trying to focus only caused her to wince in pain.
“Twilight!” Spike yelled as he dropped a pile of books and ran next to the writhing unicorn. “W-what happened? Are you alright?”
She mumbled through clenched teeth, but wasn’t able to form coherent words as her sole focus was on trying to ease the waves of pain in her head.
Spike’s eyes opened wide in realisation. “You teleported all the way from Zecora’s house? Why would you do something like that, Twi?” He asked as he helped her friend stand up.
“I c-couldn’t waste more time,” she said, pushing Spike aside and stumbling towards her desk in the other end of the room, “I’ve already wasted enough.”
She shook her head to clear the haze inside of her mind but only succeeded in increasing the pain caused by the magical overexertion. Once she got to the desk, she lifted a quill with her magic, but she let out a pained gasp and dropped it as she felt a wave of magic recoiling from her horn and through her head.
“Twilight, stop!” Spike yelled as he grabbed the unicorn by her shoulders, “Teleporting takes a lot out of you, especially with distances that long.”
“Sorry, I just…” Twilight pressed her hooves on her forehead and lightly tried to rub the pain away, “I have to write to the Princess about the lost cutie marks, I can waste any more time.”
“You have me for that, Twilight,” Spike said, looking into the unicorn’s eyes, “I was only half-joking when I said that was my job.”
Twilight could see him making the connections in his mind. Her assistant was smart; she knew he must have figured out what happened with Zecora, there were few things that would make her risk a teleportation all the way from the Everfree.
Nevertheless, the dragon still felt compelled to ask, “Twilight... What happened in Zecora’s house?”
Twilight gave Spike a forlorn look, to which he replied with a sigh that seemed to drain the energy from his body.
“She lost hers as well, huh?” he said, his shoulders slumping as he made the connection in his mind.
Twilight just nodded and turned to face the desk.
“This is going to be a long one, Spike. I don’t want to miss anything,” she said as she pushed the parchment and quill to her assistant.
Spike was about to take them when he heard a loud knock on the door. “I’ll get that,” he said and walked towards the door.
Twilight let her body lie against her desk, the teleportation took a lot out of her, and jumbled what was left behind. But she knew her current state was also due to the stress of the last couple of days finally catching up to her. Her blurry mind and achy muscles just made her wish that all of this mess would be over.
Princess Celestia would read the letter and, undeterred by the possible shock, she'd pull something from her vast library of knowledge. She'd find a solution and guide Twilight down the path to solve it herself.
She gave a heavy sigh. If only, she thought.
“Applejack? What are you doing here?”
“Hello, Spike. I was wonderin' if I could speak with Twilight.” Applejack said with urgency in her voice.
“I’m here, AJ.” Twilight opened her eyes and stood up, slowly walking towards the door to face her friend. “Is everything alright?”
“No, Twi,” Applejack walked into the Library and closed the door behind her, “things ain’t right.”
The knots inside of Twilight’s stomach tightened when she heard that.
“What… what do you mean, Applejack?” Her mind quickly conjured several situations that could have sent Applejack straight to her for help, but none of them managed to alleviate her mood. “Is Golden Harvest alright? Has her condition worsened?”
“No, Golden is fine, it’s just that—” she stopped and gave out a long, drawn out sigh as she resigned herself to accept the truth, “you were right, Twi.”
Twilight cocked her head in confusion, “Right about what?”
Applejack closed her eyes and frowned before speaking, “It’s not just Golden, other ponies are losin’ their cutie marks too.”
Twilight felt the world around her brought to a standstill, Applejack’s words still rang inside her head, but she hadn’t quite registered their meaning.
“Ah, I…” she stammered, “I’m sorry, Applejack, how do you know that?”
“Apple Bloom came to the farm tellin’ us that a filly had lost her cutie mark at school this mornin',” Applejack said.
Spike gasped, and the fog inside of Twilight’s mind grew thicker.
“Oh, no,” she said, “that’s awful, does anypo—”
“That ain’t all,” Applejack interrupted her; the worried look on her face became more marked, “on my way here I saw a whole rabble of ponies outside of Town Hall.”
“What?” Twilight asked in disbelief.
“They know, Twi,” Applejack said, walking closer to her, “they know about what’s happenin'.”
The fog that clouded her mind was quickly dissipated when the notion of what was happening hit her like a blunt kick. Twilight fidgeted in place, not knowing what to do. She could feel her breath coming out quicker; her eyes went from Applejack to the door and from the door to her desk, and finally back to Applejack again.
“Twi? What are we gonna do?” Applejack asked.
The unicorn closed her eyes and took a deep breath; and while the stress hadn’t left her, she was calmer now.
“Spike,” she said with determination, “take a note.”
Apple Bloom stared at the orchard through the living room window. Big Mac had left for the schoolhouse as soon as he stored the carts in the barn, stopping only to let Granny Smith know about what was happening. He probably wouldn’t return until much later; seeing as he was close friends with Miss Cheerilee, he would want to make sure she was okay and everything was under control again before coming back home.
Her sister hadn’t returned either. She guessed Applejack would probably stay with Miss Twilight to help her to solve this problem, and Celestia knew how long that would take. They were both needed where they were and Apple Bloom knew this, which is why she felt a little guilty for wishing they were at the farm with her.
She sighed.
“This is my fault, this is all my fault,” Golden Harvest said as she rocked back and forth in the living room couch.
“Now now, young’n. You can't go blaming none of this on you, you hear me?” Granny Smith said, trying to reassure the distress farmer.
Golden Harvest could use some support as well, the poor mare hadn’t stopped blaming herself since she found out the same thing that happened to her happened to other ponies as well. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were probably at home by now, and they’d stay there until this whole situation blew over. If it ever did, that is, Apple Bloom no longer knew if it could be that easily solved.
The filly pressed her forehead against the glass of the window, not knowing what to say to Golden Harvest. Or her friends. Or even to herself.
At the very least, she knew she had to apologise to her friends after ditching them in school. With a groan, she let her head slide down the glass of the window until her head rested in the window ledge. She was a mess, and felt like one, too. Without her friends and her family, she just felt so…
“…alone,” she murmured to nopony.
She lifted her head and tried to look at the path that led to Ponyville, hoping in vain to see a familiar face coming back and tell them everything was going to be alright.
“Please, hurry,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“What is the meaning of this!?” cried a mare in front of the podium of Town Hall.
“My son came from school saying that a filly’s cutie mark disappeared!” Yelled a yellow pegasus who hovered above the rest of the crowd.
“Why are there so many ponies missing?” asked a reddish mare from the back.
“Ponies, please. I need all of you to remain calm!” The mayor raised her voice, trying to be heard above the loud mass of citizens.
All in all, Ponyville’s centre was a veritable mess. Ponies were shouting left and right, just a few farming implements short of a rabble. And there was nothing Ivory Scroll could do to appease them.
“Well, this ain’t good,” Applejack said as she looked at the dozens of ponies gathered in front of Town Hall.
“I was hoping it wouldn’t get to this,” Twilight said in a low voice.
“They were going to find out one way or another, weren’t they? At least now we're not afraid of whether or not they'll find out,” Spike murmured as he crossed his arms.
“Yes, but I wanted to at least be the one that would break the news to them,” Twilight said looking at the disheveled figure of the mayor. She could see the frustration on the older mare’s face; she was clearly in way over her head.
At that moment, Twilight felt something cold spreading through her chest, and every worried cry from the crowd worsened that sensation. The irking thought that she had somehow failed Golden, Zecora, and that filly, did little to alleviate the growing guild in her.
"This is exactly what I wanted to avoid," she whispered, feeling some of her strength leave with those words.
The Mayor’s eyes brightened when she saw Twilight at the end of the crowd. “Miss Sparkle!” she said with relief clear in her voice, and every head to turned towards the unicorn as a result.
Twilight managed to form an awkward smile as every head in the crowd turned towards her.
“Could you please clear things up for these ponies?” she finished, far too eager to ditch the problem on the unicorn’s hooves.
Twilight squirmed in place, but was nudged on the side by Applejack. “Go there, Twi, tell ‘em what’s happenin’ and set the record straight,” she said in encouragement before she backed away.
Twilight gulped and made her way to the podium, followed closely by Spike. The mass of ponies parted to give her room to pass through, and as she walked, she could feel every set of eyes drilling into her, she could feel the hope of all those ponies in her being capable of solving this. She just hoped she wouldn’t disappoint them.
“Please tell me you know what’s going on, Miss Sparkle,” Ivory whispered with a hint of desperation in her voice.
“I… do,” Twilight said, not mentioning that while she did know what was going on, she didn't know much else, least of all what to do about it.
Ivory Scroll sighed in relief and moved aside to let Twilight take the podium.
Once she was up there, staring at the dozens of ponies in front of her, she realised she wasn't entirely sure how to address the issue. It's not as if she could beat around the bush too much, the word had spread and everypony already knew about... whatever it is that was happening. On the other hoof, she didn't want to be too blunt, lest she ended up scaring them more.
"Well, is it true?" asked a mare in an ornate dress near the front.
She decided to be direct, it'd be better to just get it out of the way, so she inhaled deeply and spoke, “It’s true... Some ponies have lost their cutie marks.”
The reaction was immediate as it was intense, everypony present began to scream in both fear and protest to the reveal.
"But how is this possible?"
"Why is this happening!?"
“I can only tell you what I know,” Twilight said, raising her voice as to be heard above the shouting of the growing crowd, “I know this isn’t caused by a spell or a curse, which leads me to believe that this may have a more down to Earth explanation.”
The mob erupted in nervous murmurs, once again. Twilight had to stop for a second and try to look at it from their perspective. She still felt shocked and she had a full day to digest the news while it all was still fresh to them. If nothing else, she'd try to ease the process for their sake. She raised her voice again and kept speaking, “I assure you, measures have already been taken regarding this problem!”
This seemed to do the trick, as the ponies calmed down and listened intently. “The head of Ponyville Hospital, Doctor Horse, has gotten in contact with his colleagues in Manehattan, and they will be working together to find a cure.”
Twilight took a deep breath and looked at the ponies in front of her, though some seemed to be more calm, many still had fear and doubt planted firmly on their faces. She still had one last final bit of information to share, and she expected that this could finally ease the tension in town.
“Princess Celestia has been informed as well, and I assure you she’ll work hard to give us a solution,” she said as she scanned the crowd of ponies with her eyes.
Several seemed to relax: the thought of having the Princess involved gave them a sliver of hope. Still, some ponies held their expression of discomfort.
“Has she answered you?” asked a brown stallion near the front.
This caught Twilight off-guard. “Uh, well... No. I mean, not yet…” she said, embarrassed, “but that’s just because I only wrote to her this evening, and—”
“What!?”
“Why did you wait so long?”
“Ponies, please calm down! I only waited because I needed to find out as much as I could before I—” Twilight tried to explain herself, but was drowned by the cries of protest of the ponies in front of her.
“How long have you known?”
“Why didn’t you tell us before?”
"Did you think you could hide this from us?"
The mass of shouting bodies moved erratically, some ponies left while others pushed forward, tangling themselves with each other, becoming a single, writhing mass.
“Look out!” a mare yelled as a stallion stepped on her dress.
The ripping sound was heard by everyone present, and the ponies around her stepped back to give her some room.
"Ah... I'm so sorry mi—" the stallion tried to apologise, but his words died on his throat.
“Now look what you’ve...” the mare started, but was cut off by the collective gasp of the ponies who surrounded her.
The murmurs and yelling were slowly replaced by the silence that fell over the crowd. Everyone stared at the mare with the ripped dress... And at her blank flank.
Twilight stared at the mare in disbelief. “No… This can’t be happening,” she murmured.
The mare pulled the remnants of her dress down, unsuccessfully trying to cover her flank. She looked frantically at everypony around her, not knowing how to react.
Twilight spared Spike a glance. The dragon seemed to be as lost for words as she was if his bewildered expression was any indication. “Alright, I’m going to need every—” She started, but was soon interrupted by the cry of fear of a blond maned pink mare. Everypony else soon followed.
Several ponies ran away, including the mare with the ripped dress.
“Please be quiet!” Twilight yelled, hoping that she could somehow salvage the situation, “Everypony, please. We have to keep—”
She was suddenly interrupted by a loud burp and a flame of green magic fire. Every pair of eyes focused on Spike, and on the scroll that had appeared in front of him.
It was a bulky scroll, that much was obvious; Twilight could feel the extra weight as she lifted it with her magic.
Even though her sight didn’t leave the piece of rolled parchment, she could feel dozens of stares drilling into her, expectantly. She gulped as she broke the wax seal and opened the letter, her eyes scanned its contents in a hurry, and an expression of uneasiness formed on her face with every word she read.
The silence continued for almost a full minute, and the crowd grew more anxious, more restless with every passing second, soon enough the murmurs began once again, gradually becoming discontent grumbles.
“So? What does the Princess say?” yelled a cream coloured mare, followed by several cries of agreement.
Twilight stared at the letter, and she kept staring at it, rereading the last paragraph over and over. She slowly shifted her gaze away from the parchment to address the ponies in front of her. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times, not knowing what to say. She looked down at the scroll once again, almost as if she thought she could hide behind it.
She knew it was pointless, why was she even stalling? She lifted the scroll in front of her and read the last sentences out loud.
"A small regiment of guards has been dispatched to Ponyville, and they should arrive before sundown. I beg of all of the ponies of Ponyville to remain calm during this time of distress."
While some ponies seemed to calm down at the words of the Princess, most of the ponies in the crowd didn't react, they were focused on the unicorn at the podium, hoping to get more information.
“But tomorrow morning,” Twilight gulped before continuing, “Ponyville will effectively be under state of quarantine.”