//------------------------------// // Chapter Five // Story: The Saddest Story // by MemoryLane //------------------------------//         The house was haunted.         Not by ghosts. Not by the unrelenting souls of the poor ponies who had lost their lives that day, but more so by the heavy, cursed weight that bore down of everypony’s shoulders. The din that reigned supreme through the mysterious home was enough to make somepony submit to the unforgiving fate that tempted them, and frankly succeeded when it came to the ponies who had all died that day.         Everything in the house was eternally silent. Hardly anypony spoke, as the sounds that pierced through what was once a very peaceful and loving town suddenly began to lessen to an almost stunning halt outside. Every now and then, a cold chill would make its way through the home, sending shivers through a few ponies inside, but not all.         The house was cut into two different groups. While this was completely unintentional, Twilight could not be worried about it. The unicorn and her friends were all spread around on the upper floor of the house in various rooms, while the other five ponies, whom Twilight still didn’t exactly know, resided downstairs. Every now and then, she could hear the traumatized sniffles of the foal, followed by small hushing sounds coming from her mother.         Twilight sat in some kind of bedroom. She lay on a pink bed that sat in the corner of the room, on her back. She stared up at the ceiling, like a zombie, as she was completely lost inside of her almost aching mind.         She was thinking. About what, she couldn’t exactly tell. She thought about what had happened so far, that day. How it had started out so normal, like any other. She thought about what was possibly going on, and what kind of sickness or plague could possibly be doing this to their innocent little town. She thought about Prose—and her very untimely death in front of Twilight’s very eyes. She thought about the stallion, who had almost crushed her when he jumped from a rooftop above. She thought about the blood that practically ran down the streets of Ponyville—blood that would surely never wash away no matter how harsh a rainstorm was brought on. Twilight’s mind kept shifting, and she couldn’t focus correctly. She hadn’t moved in what felt like hours. When she realized this, she blinked, and turned her head to the left. There was a clock on the endtable. It was two in the afternoon. She turned back to look at the bland, white ceiling in front of her, and let out a soft sigh. Spike drifted through her brain, like a picture running down a raging river. The mere thought of him, out there, wanted to make her tear up. She couldn’t help but wonder where he was, if he was hurt, or worse. The last thing Twilight wanted to imagine was Spike surcumbing to the same fate as Prose, but for some reason she just couldn’t help but shiver every time it accidently passed through. While Twilight was still certain that Spike had enough sense and intellect to find her, or stay safe, the variables still hurt. Sweet Celestia, Twilight muttered in her mind. The variables.         Anything could happen. It was a proven fact that there are chances in almost every thing in life. There was a chance the Twilight would have oatmeal for breakfast. There was a chance that some kind of plague would run rampant throughout her town. There was a chance that she’d end up finding her friends as fast as she did. There was a chance that she would end up just like Prose. Dead. Crushed.         Twilight physically shook her head, and let out a small grunt. She grabbed one of the pillows that propped her head into the air, and threw it on her face. While she wanted to scream into it, she held back. The house was much too quiet to get away with something like that. It was frustrating, but understandable.         Nothing was making sense, and that was a fact that Twilight felt was going to cause her brain to spontaneously combust.         There was a soft knock on the door, causing Twilight to reflexively toss the pillow off of her face, and set it on the bed right next to her. She didn’t say anything, but merely waited for whoever was on the other side to come in. Twilight just turned to the ceiling, and sighed softly. The door slowly opened, and the unicorn caught a tint of orange.         “S-Sugarcube?” Applejack called, as she cautiously peeked the door open. Twilight didn’t even move her head, or take notice of the mare. She was too busy thinking. “Can I come in? It’s been a while…” Her southern drawl was littered with emotion—a tinge of sadness, a sprinkle of  carefulness, a dash of social withdrawal. Twilight picked up on this rather quickly, and tore her eyes away from the top of the room. She gave forth a small nod. Applejack, almost eager, opened up the door a little wider, and slipped inside. She held her stetson hat in her hoof, pressed against her chest. She paused for a moment, as if she was debating what to say, before opening her mouth again. “It’s… gotten awful quiet outside,” she said, rather downtrodden. Twilight simply stared at the mare, before giving another nod. “Yes,” Twilight replied, with a sigh. “It has. It’s… terrible,” she murmured. Applejack sat her hat back on top of her head, gently. Twilight already had an idea of why Applejack was entering, so she cut straight to the point. It was better than letting the words linger inside of her mind, like particles of dust. “Nothing. Nothing makes any sense, Applejack. It was all out of nowhere. So fast,” she added. Applejack nodded, knowingly. While Twilight had no idea just what Applejack herself saw before they all met up, the unicorn told herself to be careful. After all, the earth pony hadn’t mentioned her sister at all, and she surely wasn’t inside of the house. Same for Rarity’s sister, Sweetie Belle, and Rainbow Dash’s friend, Scootaloo. She was going to have to watch what she said, and prevent herself from saying anything to bring it up. “Yeah. I… er…” Applejack seemed to be fighting herself for words. “I just wanted to make sure ya were alright in ‘ere. Wouldja mind if I went and grabbed the other girls?” Twilight shook her head. With this, Applejack poked her head out the door, and made some sort of waving motion. Twilight felt like an idiot. She sure hoped her friends didn’t just assume she was ignoring them. Then again, maybe isolating herself in that room was a horrid way to get anything solved. Twilight shook her head, for a different reason this time, and sat up, a bit more determined than she was a second ago. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash entered the room, walking past Applejack. All three of them bore large frowns on their faces. Twilight couldn’t help but cock her head. “Where’s Pinkie?” she asked. The last time Twilight saw Pinkie was a few hours ago, sitting on the couch with the Cake twins, covered in a bit of blood. Actually, she had been meaning to ask about that, but decided to simply save it for later. She’d find a time to inquire later. The four of them just alternated glances, as if they were having a conversation with their eyes. Eventually, it was Rainbow Dash who opened her brash mouth. “She’s, uh, going through something at the moment,” she said, almost casually. Twilight didn’t understand, and Rarity picked up on it. “What Rainbow means is that Pinkie’s… not entirely cooperating. We tried to stir her, but she refused to move from the couch,” Rarity explained. The facts quickly began to dawn of Twilight, and she couldn’t help but cast her eyes downward. Surely, Pinkie saw something similar to what Twilight saw, if not worse. This only made the unicorn curious. She just barely kept her own mouth shut. “The poor dear…” “Twilight, w-what’s g-going on? Please...” Fluttershy quivered, desperate for some kind of consolation that could only be found in undeniable facts and answers. Honestly, Twilight should have told her friends what she knew earlier, which made the mare feel all the more guilty. “I don’t know,” she said, plainly. Fluttershy’s ears flattened against her head, and the frown that adorned her pretty face tripled in size. “I mean, I’m not too sure yet. Based from what I saw, I can’t entirely come up with an answer quite yet,” she said, as calmly and reassuringly as she could manage. “Well, something’s going on,” Rainbow Dash said, abruptly. Applejack gave the mare the dirtiest glare Twilight had ever seen from her, but the pegasus didn’t seem to notice. “There are ponies dropping dead outside.” “It’s like they suddenly lose the will to live…” Fluttershy added, in a tiny voice. Her shaking was so violent that she was wobbling, and her eyes were flickering a mile a minute with fright. “Now, wait a minute,” Applejack intervened, holding up a hoof. She rested it on Fluttershy’s shoulder in a lame effort to calm her down. “We don’t know yet. We don’t know anything yet.” Something was clicking inside of Twilight’s mind. As she contemplated what Fluttershy said, it was as if someone was illuminating that dark, empty cavern that she liked to consider her mind. She remembered the death of Prose, and the stallion who had jumped to his death. “I… think she’s right,” she said. Unfortunately, she had meant to say it in her head. “Pardon me, dear?” The look on Rarity’s face made it apparent that she was pretty unsure that she had heard Twilight incorrectly, when in fact she didn’t. “Something’s going on. It’s making ponies… end their own lives, by whatever means necessary. Prose… knocked over one of my bookcases, on purpose, and died…” Twilight said, depressedly. She purposefully didn’t bring up the stallion. “That’s the only thing we know. There’s…” Twilight’s thirst for knowledge was the one thing that was aiding in the slow destruction of her aching mind. What she didn’t know that she doing exactly what it shouldn’t: kill her. “We… urk…” Rainbow Dash’s gulp cut short whatever brave comment she was about to make.  Her tail swished side to side, at an almost obnoxiously fast pace. Twilight simply assumed that she didn’t realize that she was doing it. She could see the disappointment on her face. “T-Then… what is our course of action?” Rarity asked, rather formally. “Surely, sitting around here wouldn’t do us any good,” she added. Twilight could see Rarity’s eyes flicker towards the window nearest the bed, like she was occasionally trying to get a peek of what was going on outside. Unfortunately, most of the windows in the house bore curtains. No one had the courage to look through them. Twilight paused for a moment. Fluttershy was still shaking so hard, she could have rivalled a tectonic plate. She was buried into Applejack’s shoulder, who was doing her best to pat her back and calm her down. It was dangerous to go outside, that much Twilight could presume. It was unclear what the best course of action was, as she really didn’t even know what she was up against. Whatever was making ponies kill themselves was horrifyingly effective. For all she knew, it could be some kind of virus or plague. And, if that was the case, it wouldn’t even be that crazy to assume that it’s airborne. But, luckily, that was unlikely, since Twilight had been running around outside earlier and she felt perfectly fine. “I think we need to go and find Princess Celestia. I’m positive she knows what’s going on, and how to stop this,” Twilight said, a bit more sternly than she meant to. She was staring at the doorway, at no one in particular. She did a little bit of thinking. While she had no idea of Canterlot was even affected, she knew deep in the back of her mind that getting there, and speaking with the Princess would surely help. “We can’t,” Rainbow Dash suddenly exclaimed, flicking her ear once every few seconds. “I was flying around during the craziness earlier, looking for you guys. The train is completely destroyed, tipped over off the tracks a mile away from here,” she explained. Twilight refused to let this hinder her optimism. As of right then, it was all that she actually had. Rainbow scratched the back of her head, and looked upwards, as if she was recalling a memory. “Metal and wood were everywhere. I swooped down to help, but…” Twilight already knew how Rainbow was going to finish that sentence. “How do ya suppose we get there?” Applejack asked, obviously working quickly to change the topic. She tossed her head over in Twilight direction, casting an almost saddened look upon her. “I’m… not sure. We’ll have to walk… tonight,” she said, as if she was coming to a realization. “Leaving at the moment probably isn’t a good idea. It’d take a few hours to get there. By the time that we’d arrive, it’d already be nighttime. We should grab a few things and rest, and leave this evening, and walk through the night—perhaps be there by morning . Nopony will be out then, either. We can limit who we come in contact with that way too… incase whatever is going on with ponies is contagious,” Twilight explained. She was more or less simply thinking out loud. Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack shared glances between them, as if they were having another short conversation with their eyes. “B-b-but… walking to C-Canterlot? I-in the dark?” Fluttershy stammered. As soon as the pegasus repeated Twilight’s words out loud, the latter could help but frown with realization. While it was a risky idea, it was better than arriving at Canterlot at night. Whether this plague was apparent in the royal city or not, Twilight would rather not get there sometime in the night. Morning would be a much better time to arrive. Twilight thought quickly. “As strange as it may sound, I think it’s safer. Surely, there’s some flashlights we can take, or other supplies. I know the route fairly well,” Twilight explained, jumping off the bed. “If we make haste, and leave sometime around seven in the evening, we’ll be there in the morning. We cannot stay here for much longer,” Twilight explained. “Sound like  a plan?” Rainbow Dash raised a hoof to her forehead, like she was doing a salute. “Gotcha!”  she said, rather loudly. Applejack and Rarity exchanged a series of nervous glances, before they simultaneously shared a determined nod. Fluttershy, however, was frozen in place. Twilight couldn’t help but stamp a small frown on her face, and she received nothing more than one of the most reluctant squeals of agreement that she had ever heard. Twilight was about to ponder Fluttershy, but that wish was denied mere milliseconds later. “But… what do we do about Pinkie?” Rarity asked, politely and daintily tossing her head towards the door. “The poor dear is in no position to move, unfortunately,” she explained. “A-And the Cake Twins…?” Fluttershy just barely managed to add. The fragile pegasus appeared to just barely be on the edge of hysterics. Her eyes were the size of tiny peas, and surveyed her friends as if every glance would be her very last one, or even as if she was looking through some kind of time-travelling mirror. Twilight paused for a moment. She had completely forgotten about the Cake Twins. Her eye twitched with the realization that they surely couldn’t leave two children in the hooves of a bunch of complete strangers. However, that didn’t stop her brain from maneuvering and thinking at a mile a minute. There was a small lull in the conversation, another one, before Twilight spoke up. “I think we should let Pinkie stay here,” she said. As horrible as the words were, leaving her mouth, she had good reason for them. Rainbow Dash actually seemed a bit offended at the idea. Her eyes actually appeared to harden. “L-Leave her here? No way! We stick together! That’s the way we’ve done it before, and that’s the way we should keep doing it! We can’t leave her behind!” Applejack, understandably, caught on to Twilight’s thinking. She turned to the pegasus, and bore into her with emerald green eyes. “Rainbow, ya gotta admit. Pinkie’s… not all that stable right now. She can’t even move off that couch. How are we supposed to get ‘er to walk to Canterlot?” “Of course,” Rarity added. “Besides, she could stay here and take care of the Twins. She has been doing a good job, dearie. Last time I checked, they were asleep in her hooves, drinking from bottles.” This only confirmed Twilight’s decision. Rainbow Dash turned from pony to pony, alternating glances between the time span of about three seconds, before letting out a loud huff. “A-alright… I guess that makes sense…” she said, letting her shoulders sag. While Twilight did indeed feel a little guilty leaving one of her best friends behind, it was for the best. Pinkie surely wouldn’t mind, and she’d most likely stay safe inside the house. She wouldn’t be alone. “Good,” Twilight stepped up, a brand new determined look plastered on her face. An unbridled heat rose from the mare’s cheeks, as she understood just what this all meant for her, and her friends. She turned at looked at the clock, which currently read about 2:30-ish pm. She did a few mental calculations, before uttering her next few words. “We leave at seven. Grab what you can, get some rest. Do whatever you have to do. Just be ready for…” There was another pause. Twilight had absolutely no idea how to finish that sentence.         As the time dwindled by, so did the trickling feeling of regret. The more Twilight pondered leaving the house, every time that the mare heard the eerie sound of the ticking clock, the more she felt something. It was an odd sensation, something akin to either extreme nervousness or jittery excitement. She had spent most of the last few hours simply trying to understand which one it was. While she was eager to learn more of the epidemic that was going on outside, the variables were proving a gigantic mental strain on her wishes for knowledge and sustenance.         Her mind had been spinning with ideas and hypothesizes, reactions and consequences, results and fallacies. Everything was hurting inside of her, but she forced it away for the sake of her friends. While it wasn’t the most healthy of strategies, it was the most effective. Twilight had somehow coerced herself not to think about Prose until the whole ordeal was over with, when she could set aside a proper time and place to mourn the poor mare’s death. That stallion as well, whom she still didn’t even know.         The house, throughout the five hours before their departure, had somehow lost power. At roughly 3 pm, everything just cut out. Twilight had a rather morbid idea why, but everypony immediately thought the same thing, so she didn’t say anything. The end result was the house being shrouded in near darkness as the sun began to set in the distance. This gave Twilight a little bit of hope. Perhaps the Princess’ weren’t affected by this… plague. They were still doing their royal duties, obviously.         Twilight had watched earlier, as Rarity tried to explain to Pinkie Pie their situation, and that it would be better for her to stay there. Unfortunately, Pinkie was just too… out of it. It was unsure if she heard, as she just kept her empty eyes focused on the rug at her hooves below her. Twilight told the purple mare, one of the stragglers who appeared to be the most responsible of them all, to keep an eye on their friend while they left. She didn’t appear to care, but agreed nonetheless. The other stragglers had taken to sleep in different parts of the house.         By some kind of sheer happenstance, Twilight’s group of five managed to find a good amount of supplies to borrow for their trip. This included a bit of food, five flashlights, a small map, and a few other necessities, such as camping gear just in case of some kind of emergency in case they’d need to stop for a while. Twilight  had thought of everything.         At four minutes to seven, The five of them huddled in the near darkness, shining flashlights through the living room like they were telling campfire stories. Fluttershy’s light was shaking so much that to anyone looking at the house from outside would think that someone was playing with strobe lights. Applejack was the closest to the door, and had offered to be the first one to take a look outside. “Y’all ready?” she asked.         Only three ponies nodded in return. Applejack didn’t falter. She let out a hot, shaky breath, and bravely grasped the doorknob, clutching it with an intense death grip that could have shattered a rock. Very, very suddenly, Applejack thrust open the door, and peeked her head outside before anyone behind her could get any sort of look. She shined her flashlight about outside, to and fro. For a moment, Applejack seemed perfectly fine, balancing herself on her hindlegs to survey the land before her.         But then, Twilight noticed something she wished she didn’t.         Applejack’s legs were shaking, vigorously.         Just as soon as the cowpony opened the door, she slammed it closed, returning back into the house. Rarity shined her flashlight on Applejack’s face, only to show…         ...one of the most horrified, appalled expressions Twilight had ever seen the mare give. Her eyes were the size of ants, moving about in a sea of white, twitching. Twilight almost instantly lost hope, but she tossed that idea into the garbage quickly.         Before anypony could ask something pertaining to what she saw, Applejack pointed a hoof at Fluttershy. “I think she should stay here, with Pinkie,” she said. Her voice… changed. It was a bit more serious, and taxing than it was just a few moments ago. Fluttershy’s eyes softened, and actually began to water with worry and panic.         “B-b-b-but…” was all the Fluttershy had managed to say, taking a few steps back.         “Applejack, what did you see?” Rainbow Dash asked, genuinely curious. “What was so bad?” Twilight hoped that Rainbow was kidding, but didn’t put it past her that she wasn’t.         “We can’t leave Fluttershy behind,” Twilight spoke. “We need as many of the Element’s of Harmony as possible.” Twilight couldn’t imagine the thought of leaving both Pinkie and Fluttershy behind. Besides, there was a forest that the group would need to make their way through, one that Twilight wasn’t particularly familiar with, especially at night. Twilight had made it clear earlier that Fluttershy was a necessity.         Applejack changed her odd gaze to Twilight, and saw her eye twitch horrendously. “Twi, I don’t think ya understand. She can’t go out there. She can’t. Heck, none of us should go out there… there’s… all over…”         Fluttershy was crying, now. Applejack’s prompting had accidentally sparked her into going into another fearful fit. Tears were being strewn down her face, like rain on a windowsill. “W-w-what’s o-outside…? I-I don’t…” she stammered, backing herself up until her rump his a nearby wall. She was shaking her head, like a child who didn’t wish to go to bed.         “We need Fluttershy. She has to go. We’re already risking enough leaving Pinkie Pie behind,” Rainbow Dash muttered, looking towards the ground and speaking under her breath.         “I-I-I c-can’t go!” Fluttershy squeaked.         “Do y’all have somethin’ in your ears?” Applejack asked. “She can’t go. She can’t see....” Twilight was slowly starting to catch on. Surely, whatever Applejack saw outside would only traumatize the poor buttery pegasus. Perhaps… Applejack is right. She’d only turn out like Pinkie…         But that was until Twilight thought of something. She threw her saddlebag off of her back, and began to quickly rummage through it. The rest of the group, save for Fluttershy, watched curiously, before Twilight pulled out a small bandana. “Fluttershy, put this over your eyes,” she said, almost demandingly.         “B-but—”                  “Please, Fluttershy,” Twilight begged, her tone turning more gentle with every word she spoke. She cautiously walked over to the mare, and held out the red bandana to her. “We’ll take it off the moment it seems safe enough. We need you.” Twilight’s eyes shone like some kind of leader, shimmering like glass even in the darkly lit room.         Fluttershy’s crying came to an almost abrupt halt. She alternated glances from the bandana, to Twilight, and to her friends, for a least a full minute before Twilight was almost delighted to see her speak.         “O-okay…” she said.