The Black Heart

by Astral Star and Company

Chapter 1: A New Day

The dreams started the same way…

“Run!”

Screaming, so much screaming…

The sounds of lives lost…

“How did it escape?!”

The wailing of a thousand dead…

“No! Please!”

They tried so desperately to fight…

“Leave her alone!”

All of it. Every single one…

“Lock it down! Do not let it get away!”

In vain…

In this land of dreams, only glimpses could be seen past the absolute wave of fear and despair. A rolling, ragged sky, stained in blood. The ground, a sea of death, the powdered bones of all who came before you. The skulls, still adorned by lively possessions, cling desperately to the life they used to live.

In vain…

Then, there is him. A figure clad in metal, a body of nothing but bare flesh and hatred, no more, no less. Anger and death are his tools, and with them, he seeks to free all things from their torment.

Life is an illusion, the preamble for the ultimatum of the universe. It is our greatest privilege to witness its passing. He seeks to speed our way through, to shrug off the chains and proceed onward, to experience the truth.

Bound no longer, and more powerful than ever, he has come to this world to free us.

<-(\|/)->

Twilight awoke with a start. She had the dream again, or rather, nightmare. Looking outside, the sky was blanketed in grey, rolling clouds. No sign of Celestia’s sun penetrated the thick blanket. It had been so long since anypony could feel the sunshine on their face. Its warmth would do wonders of good to the bleak state they all found themselves in.

Cloudsdale couldn’t spare any pegasi to clear them. Those who were available were just too afraid to even try. These were Everfree clouds, and the mysterious plague that wrought the land came close with cloud’s arrival.

Like every morning, she got out of bed and made herself some breakfast. Every morning she would see the small empty bed, where her number one assistant used to sleep. She missed his company, his quirky attitude, funny jokes, and his willingness to help. A grim reminder of times long since past.

Finally ready, she made herself presentable, brushing her deep purple mane, adjusting her white shirt and dusty brown coat, then walked outside her library home. As always, she was greeted by the empty streets. Very rarely did she see any pony walk outside freely. On Tuesdays however, a stallion in a cloak, pulling a large wagon would come by to collect the bodies. “Bring out your dead!” he used to call.

Heaving a deep sigh, she trotted through town, towards the train station. Looking left and right, she could only see the pale reflections of what this town used to be, of what it meant to her. Looking on it now, it broke her heart every single time. Her friends tried their hardest to visit, coming every other day, but it felt like they just didn’t come often enough.

Rainbow had long since given up her Wonderbolts dream to work in Cloudsdale with the relief effort. Rarity lived alone in the boutique, absolutely refusing to move to Manehatten with her parents and Sweetie Belle. Applejack tried her hardest to keep the farm going. She was doing well, since there was no one to pay the bills to anymore, yet she had an equally hard time keeping her family together, ever since Granny smith past away.

Twilight’s never heard from Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy since the whole thing began. She could only assume the worst. Finally arriving at the station, she walked past the counter, and boarded the train. As usual, she was the only passenger. The train sluggishly sped out of the station, leaving the purple unicorn to make herself comfortable, despite the circumstances.

The carriages were filthy. Every square inch was covered in dust, cobwebs and other unspeakable things. Mostly since Nopony could spare the time to clean them all. Willing employees were in short supply now a days. Ponies were literally dropping like flies. The train itself only had one operator, a stallion whose stubborn pride kept him in the job. You have to commend him on his courage, but in the end, it doesn’t make a difference whether you stay inside, or continued to work.

The train trip felt much longer than it actually was. Twilight was quickly running out of books to read. The only other written material she brought was her notes, and she was hesitant to even look at that dusty old folder let alone read it. Yet, if she wanted any chance to save Equestria, she had to.

The ‘Notes’ as they were called was everything the ponies knew for sure about the mysterious illness that swept across the land like the hand of death. The disease was slow to act, but once it did, it was devastating. Ponies dropped right and left, with no warning what so ever. The public thought that the recent arrival of the Crystal Ponies was to blame, but in reality, they were the first ones to go extinct. No healthy Crystal Ponies existed any more. All infected, and soon, dead.

The train stopped at the Canterlot station, screeching to a halt as it always did. Twilight stepped off the carriage and proceeded through the empty station. Canterlot was the least affected city in all of Equestria. It still held that regal, pompous aura that the nobles loved so much. However, it took no expert to see that the plague took its toll here as much as other places, they just hid it better. The pristine ivory white towers have faded to grey a long time ago, many were laced in moss and vines. The grey, broiling sky loomed overhead, ever present since that fateful day.

The studious purple unicorn approached the largest and most well-kept building in all of Canterlot, and possibly, all of Equestria.

The Canterlot Psychiatric Hospital

This monumental structure was built into the Royal Palace’s least used wings, and has expanded since then. It looked like any other hospital, but was heavily fortified, inside and out. The guards have clearly learnt from the Empire incident, and are taking no chances. Twilight had to check in with her official ID and passphrase, even though she entered the building every day, and at the exact same time.

She was the greeted by the same faces, the same stiff nods and looks of respect. She had made leaps and bounds in the research of the disease, which to be honest, is not enough to save any pony yet. Her folder of notes contained only five pages after all, half as much as she was able back in magic kindergarten. Her office, was simple and practical, a table, two chairs, a lamp and a filing cabinet. The cabinet was full of subject and victim files. Infected at the top, Endangered in the middle, and at the bottom, Deceased. She had to use extra boxes for that category.

Heaving a sigh, she checked the clock at the wall. 8 o’clock, she was early. Her first scheduled patient wasn’t for another half hour. At least it gave her time to revise. The disease had no symptoms for the first couple days, the incubation period was no longer than one week. Afterwards, the victim experiences increasing feelings of anxiety, depression and paranoia. After another week, these feelings could cap at suicidal, contempt, dynamic or full blown insanity. The victim continues to live for an undetermined amount of time, before they just, die. No warning, they just keel over and die.

At 8:20, Twilight got a knock on the door. Not getting up, she opened it up to find the familiar face of Nurse Red Heart. She had been transferred from Ponyville ever since Patient #3013 moved into the local hospital there. She was a clean white earth pony with a pale pink mane done up in a bun underneath her nurse’s hat. Her cutie mark was a red cross.

“Twilight Sparkle?” she asked

Twi didn’t respond, but looked to her in acknowledgment.

“The Head Doctor as requested your presence. All the other doctors are meeting with him in the rehab ward.”

Twilight nodded glumly and stood up from her comfy chair. Tucking her notes in a small saddlebag, she shouldered past Nurse Redheart and into the meandering white halls, towards the rehab ward.

<-(\|/)->

The Physical Rehabilitation Ward was an inside joke to all of the hospital’s staff. No patient had ever survived the plague, so this expansive hall had been modified into a meeting place. Chairs were positioned facing a make-shift stage, with all the physical equipment shoved up to one side, gathering dust. Twilight took a seat on the front row, nodding her greetings to her fellow doctors. Nurse Redheart stood by the door to await any stragglers.

Soon, an elderly blue unicorn in a worn lab coat, almost as grey as his mane, took the stage.

“Ahem,”

He cleared his throat out of habit. There was precious little to talk idly about.

“Thank you all for coming,” he said in a gravelly voice “Let us dispense with the pleasantries and get down to business,”

He levitated a small file from under his lab coat and briefly scanned its contents before speaking again.

“As you know, the press has been ever so helpful in calming the public. In this week’s paper, they have published an article stating that the death toll on the plague is decreasing every day,”

The crowd shared brief murmurs, some chuckling at the mere thought.

“Would any pony hazard a guess as to why they would publish this?”

A dull green hoof shot up from the back of the audience.

“Yes professor Mangrove?”

“Um, to reduce panic?” she said unsurely

The head doctor nodded

“Of course, but there is another reason,”

He turned an intelligent blue eye towards a certain purple unicorn.

“Care to tell us, Doctor Sparkle?”

She sighed deeply. Why does he always have to single her out like this?

“Because there are simply less ponies left alive to die, Doctor Walker,”

She wasn’t being pessimistic, just brutally honest.

“Correct,” Walker confirmed, dispelling the angry whispers with a held hoof “If we take a look at the total death toll, we are far from over the proverbial hill. Ponies out there are depending on us to find a cure. I want everyone to redouble their efforts. The sooner we develop a cure, the sooner we could all go back to our remaining family.”

Everyone gave out an annoyed sigh. Everyone worked at their absolute hardest, but to sadly very little effect. Many have lost sleep because of this.

“Nurses Aloe and Lotus will now give you the progress report,”

Walker stepped out of the spotlight to take a seat near the back of the stage. Aloe Vera and Lotus Blossom were Ponyville’s resident spa ponies. Aloe had a dainty pink coat and a long, bright blue glossy mane and tail. Lotus sported an inverse colour scheme, but was otherwise identical. They both wore the Nurse’s headband and lab coat adorned with the red cross. Twilight hadn’t seen them in a while now. They were commissioned as nurses and sent to this hospital to work as nurses, thanks to their social experience.

They both shared the microphone on the podium, then began to speak.

“Good morning to you all, ladies and gents,” Aloe greeted

“The progress report goes as follows,” Lotus continued

“The plague has been found to specifically target the parts of the brain that determine personality, emotion and memory,”

“Without actually damaging the brain, the disease triggers specific memories and emotions associated with pain, fear and confusion,”

“This results in nightmares of remarkable clarity, driving the infected into mental instability,”

“Physical symptoms have been identified, but their cause is unknown,”

“These symptoms include the darkening of bodily fluids, profuse tear and saliva production and reddening of the irises,”

“How and why it torments ponies this way is unknown,”

“Finally, Doctor Twilight Sparkle has deduced and confirmed that the plague is not of any bacterial, viral or parasitic nature,”

Shocked gasps filled the room as every pony who knew where Twilight sat started boring holes into her with their eyes. Twilight slumped in her chair in turn, ignoring the stares.

“Take that as a template for future research,”

“Good Luck!”

They then both left the stage, leaving behind a horde of depressed and/or angry doctors plus one grumpy purple unicorn. Just as she was joining everyone, filing out of room, a voice called to her.

“Doctor Sparkle, may I have a word with you?”

Twilight turned to see Doctor Walker staring at her, motioning for her to come back stage. Disguising her confusion, she followed him in.

Backstage was a mess of old props and gym equipment. All of it was gathering dust and webs, even the flickering lights showed neglect. The two unicorns managed to find an empty room, where actors were supposed to prepare before their cues. For all they knew, it could have been a janitor’s closet.

Walker pulled up two chairs and motioned for Twilight to sit.

“Now, Doctor Sparkle,” he began cautiously “I understand there is some tension between you and the princess, hm?”

Her eyes widened in surprise, but quickly narrowed at the mention of ‘princess’.

“I have no reason to talk to her,” she growled

“She has been quite adamant to speak with you. She may have lost her governing power, but as monarch and keeper of day it is best to heed her words.”

“Some keeper of day she turned out to be,” Twilight huffed “I haven’t seen a single ray of sunshine since this whole thing started,”

“And you think she’s to blame?” he asked with arched eyebrows

Twi gave out a sigh “Well, no, but…”

“No buts. As your colleague I advise you to meet with her for lunch at the castle at 1200 hours on the dot.”

“What if I refused?”

Walker gave her a cheeky grin.

“Then maybe I would command you as your superior, to meet with her,”

Twilight rolled her eyes. She wasn’t going to win this one, was she?

“Fine,” she conceded “I’ll meet her for lunch, as you said,”

“There’s a good girl,” he nodded “Now, we best both be off. If my timetable’s correct, your first patient will be miss Shoe Shine,”

Doctor Sparkle gave a single nod in confirmation and headed out. Doctor Walker took a moment to reflect upon the plague, before departing the room himself.

Comments

[Ally of the Daleks]

Ohh very dark. I like it! I don't play league of legends so I didn't understand the references completely in the first chapter but I got the basic gist of it. Good job on that.

And why is twilight so mad at Celestia or whoever is controlling the sun? Can't wait to find out!

[Aliucon]

Weird that this got what seems to be immediate dislikes. I mean, it's not outstanding, but it isn't bad at all.

I'm a League player, and I guess the level of explanation here is reasonable. It doesn't distract too much for people that know or don't know the setting in my eyes. I don't remember Nocturne's nightmares killing people to the level they seem to be in this MLP setting, but I guess that can be an attribute of AU too. And, well, it seems like this is building up properly for something. The Crystal Ponies dying first isn't a coincidence, especially given the importance that the Crystal Heart might have later, as suggested in the image and title. And the pace is OK. You're doing a pretty good job. My only advice is to watch how many times you make the ponies sigh. That seemed to happen an unnatural lot.

Keep up the good work!

[Astral Star and Company]

4991480
No worries, this kind of thing is new for us too, so any feed back is appreciated. Also, we're trying to mimic the way he killed before his actual appearance on the twisted treeline, hence the insanity. When he does appear, we want it to be good.