• Published 21st Sep 2015
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Disease of the Soul - Dilos1



When Princess Celestia recieves a plea for help from her former student, she vows to do everything in her power to save her.

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Chapter Three

The most that Celestia could recall regarding the brief trip through the mirror was something akin to a swirling tunnel of prismatic light and color that almost blinded her, which was quickly followed by the feeling of being bodily thrown onto the hard and unforgiving ground. Celestia groaned a little from the discomfort before she cracked her eyes open. The first thing that she noticed was that she was lying on her back, her position forcing her to look up at the sky. The second thing she noticed upon arriving in the alternate world was how gray the sky was.

And it was not the sort of gray that heralded the arrival of a coming thunderstorm. Celestia realized, as she watched a single tiny fleck of papery substance lazily drift down from the sullied heavens along with thousands of its brethren, that it was the kind of gray that was left in the wake of a storm.

"Princess?" came the familiar voice of captain Stalwart, interrupting Celestia's thoughts on the matter. "Is that you?"

Celestia rolled her head, which felt oddly misshapen, to the side to view the captain. And she was almost startled when she saw that he was no longer a pony. As Celestia had informed the captain before entering the portal he had indeed changed form. His front hooves had been replaced by things that looked to Celestia like five legged spiders, while his rear ones had morphed into odd feet that now bore some kind of leather sandals. His muzzle became much shorter, and his ears had moved down to the sides of his head.

Captain Stalwart had become a human. And he did not seem to be too happy about it, as he scrambled on all fours in an effort to reach the Princess. His armor, which had somehow shaped itself to accommodate his new body, made quite a racket as he approached, and Celestia found the scene almost comical.

"Yes captain," Celestia answered him as she attempted to roll onto her stomach. "It is I." Propping herself up with her forelimbs Celestia found that too had transformed as much as the captain, with a few slight differences. While the captain's now hairless skin had retained its blue tone, Celestia's had shifted to a pale lavender. And instead of armor she was dressed in a flowing white gown that extended past her knees. Her regalia remained much the same however, with her gold chest piece draped over her shoulders and her crown sitting in place of her-

"Princess!" Stalwart exclaimed suddenly. "Your horn!"

Suppressing the urge check with her new hands that her tall spiral horn was indeed missing, Celestia quickly said, "It is alright captain. This was supposed to happen. I have not been harmed." Celestia once again checked herself over. "Although, I will not lie by saying that I do not find this to be equally off putting."

Celestia situated herself into a kneeling position and allowed herself a brief moment to take in their surroundings. She found that almost everything in sight, from the row of unfamiliar housings that could be seen in the distance to what had probably once had been a large grass lawn, was covered in a thick layer of dust and ash. Looking behind her Celestia saw a statue of a pony reared on its hind legs standing on top of a large stone base, and she guessed that was where she had entered this realm from Equestria. A short walk away from the statue a large wide building could be seen. She also noticed something else.

"Captain? where are the two guards that came with you?" she asked with a slight hint of concern in her voice.

"Don't worry your highness," Stalwart answered. "I sent them to scout the surrounding area. They should be back soon."

Celestia nodded her approval, although she found the thought of two humans crawling around on their hands and knees to be a little amusing. As she thought about it Celestia started to recall memories from centuries past, and she began the unsteady process of standing on her feet. It took a few tries until she was able to do so, but in just a few moments Celestia was standing on her hind limbs, although she had to steady herself by leaning against the side of the statues base. Stalwart looked up at her with a mixture of awe and confusion at seeing his monarchs unfamiliar posture.

"Princess?" he questioned.

Anticipating what Stalwart was going to ask next Celestia said, "It is alright captain. This is normal." Celestia considered what she had just said and added, "Well, as normal as this situation allows it to be I suppose."

Appearing to take her word for it Stalwart tried to follow his Princess' example by copying her movements. He was met with a resounding failure however, for the moment it seemed that he had his balance he fell over, with his face meeting the ground with a cringe inducing impact. Celestia resisted the urge to laugh at his plight before shuffling over to him. Offering him a hoo- . . . hand to assist him in salvaging his pride before anypony else saw, Celestia said, "It is alright captain. I did not get it the first time either."

Captain Stalwart, face flushing from having Celestia see him like this, took her hand with his own as she helped him to stand properly. One thing she noticed immediately was how much taller she was than him, and she absentmindedly pondered how her natural height as an alicorn carried over into the human world.

One the captain was more or less steady on his feet, Celestia was about to go over what course of action they would take, but she was interrupted by the sound of a body falling to the ground accompanied by the clank of armor. Celestia looked and saw a somewhat slender looking figure squirming on the ground in confusion. Celestia recognized it as one of the mares joining the mission, Crimson Arrow.

"Ack! What's going on here!" the red haired mar- . . . woman exclaimed. Before Celestia could do anything to answer or provide assistance she was interrupted yet again when another figure came out of the portal before landing right on top of Crimson. This one was Aegis Lash, adding to the pile of confusion. He was then followed by the last member of the team, Hammer Hoof.

Crimson groaned under the unexpected weight of the two former ponies. "Get off of me!" she exclaimed.

"I'm trying to but I don't know which part's mine!" Aegis answered.

"I don't care what you two do, just get off my back!"

This time Celestia could not help but chuckle a little at the uncommon scene. Hearing her quiet laughter the three looked up her before their faces morphed into expressions of surprise and embarrassment. "Princess!" they all exclaimed simultaneously before scrambling to mimic her posture. Much like the captain their efforts were rewarded by falling straight to the ground, dirtying their once pristine armor in even more dust. Captain Stalwart groaned as he leaned on the Princess' shoulder for support.

"It is alright captain. Just give them a little time to get used to it," Celestia said to him.

A few minutes later, after Celestia had helped in instructing the former ponies on how to stand properly, the five were now standing in a circle in front of the statue. Although they were undoubtedly unsteady on their feet, Celestia felt it would not be too long until they became used to their new bodies.

"So," Aegis said, speaking up. "What do we do now Princess?" He swayed slightly as he asked the question but otherwise kept his balance. Celestia glanced around at their surroundings, contemplating on what their next course of action would be. Her gaze settled on the wide two story building. Like everything else around it the structure was covered in a layer of dust and ash. She noticed that above its doors an emblem of a pony rearing on its hind legs could be seen.

"We look for Sunset of course." she answered.

Turning to the others she said, "Captain Stalwart, Crimson, and Aegis. You three will accompany me while Hammer Hoof stays here and waits for the other two guards to return." They all saluted at her orders. Turning towards the building Celestia motioned for the indicated guards to follow. With wobbly and ungraceful steps the two men and one woman fell in line behind her. As they approached the building Celestia noticed a large block of quarried stone sitting off to the side of the path with the words Canterlot High School chiseled into its front.

"Canterlot?" Crimson muttered. "Weren't we just there?"

"It is an odd parallel," Celestia answered. Beyond that she said no more as the group of four approached. The glass doors were very dirty and smudged, and their surface was smeared with copious amounts of dust, but Celestia could still see her reflection in it. What she saw hardly surprised the Princess, but it set her somewhat ill at ease to find her horn and wings missing, leaving her back and forehead bare. She also noticed that her mane no longer flowed behind her, but instead cascaded between her shoulders like a waterfall.

"Excuse me, but Princess?" Stalwart asked, dragging her out of her thoughts. "I know it is not my place to question your judgement, but should we not be looking for that place with the shooting star like you said?"

Celestia regarded the captain before replying. "Indeed captain. But you forget that we are strangers here, and it would not do to simply wander around blindly in a place that is unfamiliar to us. Chances are we would become hopelessly lost. What we need to do first is find our sense of direction, and make our way from there."

"So, we're looking for a map?" Crimson asked.

"Precisely," Celestia answered before pushing the doors open. Or at least trying to. It seemed that no matter how much force she put into it the doors refused to swing inward.

"Hmmm. . ."

Changing her tactics Celestia tried pulling on them instead. She was rewarded by the doors opening wide to allow them entry as the metal hinges squealed against each other from lack of maintenance. The group stepped inside, their sandal clad feet slapping against the the hard marble floor of the large round room with multiple archways leading to to other areas of the building. A tarp that looked like it had once belonged suspended above them now lay crumpled on the floor in a dusty heap. It was also dark, the only light coming from the pale setting just outside.

And it was deathly quiet aside from the faint breaths of its newest guests, which seemed far too loud in their ears.

"Okay, where do we start?" Aegis questioned as he glanced down the hallways, and captain Stalwart answered after a brief moment of consideration.

"Split off into pairs of two. I'll go with the Princess. Meet back here in no more than half an hour, and," he said while giving his fellow guards the stink eye, "don't. Touch. Anything."

Crimson and Aegis saluted, an action Celestia mused they likely could have replicated no matter what forms they took, before they chose a direction and stumbled off down one of the dim hallways. Captain Stalwart sighed heavily as he watched them depart.

"It will be alright captain," Celestia said as she walked ahead of him. Picking a hallway at random she strode over towards it, her own steps like graceful strides in comparison to the captains own as he followed close behind.


Outside the building Hammer Hoof sat on the dusty ground next to the statue as she inspected her new appendages. The moment the Princess, captain and fellow guards had disappeared into the building the former pony had dropped to the ground with a thud as her unfamiliarity with her new body finally caught up with her. She was looking forward to the point when they would be able to go back home to Equestria and her normal pony body and try to forget about the circumstances she now found herself in.

Hammer was happy to serve the Princess until her dying day, or at least until she retired, and would give her life if the situation called for it. But right now the former pony found herself regretting ever volunteering for this mission. Truthfully Hammer was not sure why Celestia would want to stick her neck out so far just to find her former student. Hammer remembered the unicorn mare from when she had still been a recruit stationed to guard the royal archives from intruders. She had also been given explicit orders, from the Princess herself no less, to not allow anypony, even Sunset, entry under any circumstances until she was told it was safe.

For weeks afterward Hammer wondered what the Princess had meant when she said that, and was going to ask about it until one day, while Hammer was standing in front of the doors to the archives, the sound of something very big and very determined slamming into them echoed from the other side, which was followed by the persistent din of what seemed like a hundred sets of claws raking against the thankfully enchanted wood in a desperate bid to get out.

To this day she still had no clue just what she had heard, and she was not brave enough to ask the Princess either. Not because she feared being reprimanded, but because she might get an answer. From that point onward Hammer was more than happy to keep anypony without the express permission of the Princess from entering, no matter how much lip she got from Sunset because of it. She was even happier when she was reassigned the very next day.

She was still perplexed as to why she had been forbidden from disclosing the events of that night to anypony, but that was all in the past now, and Hammer was content to let it be swept away by the present.

To pass the time Hammer took to observing the pony statue sitting on the portal to Equestria, feeling that it more closely resembled the the Saddle Arabians than it did to Equestrian ponies.

It was then that Hammer became aware of a very faint shuffling sound coming from down the ash covered road. Senses going on alert she quickly took cover behind the statues base, and there she stayed as the sound drew closer. It was also accompanied by the unmistakable sound of. . . crying?

Hammer strained her unfamiliar ears to listen, frustrated that she had to move her whole head to do so, and instantly knew that it was indeed the sound of somepony crying softly. A girl most likely, if Hammer was any judge.

"Aria?" a voice called out weakly, and Hammer stiffened at how small and broken it sounded. "Adagio?"

The shuffling continued as its owner seemed to pass by the statue, and Hammer leaned over just enough to see who or what it was. And what she saw filled the guard with no small amount of pity and sadness at the sight.

It was a human, a girl, with light blue skin and mane of dark indigo hair with lighter streaks running down it. She held herself, seemingly for warmth, as she dragged her feet on the ground, leaving a twin trail in the dust. And she was so thin and frail looking that it seemed like the slightest breeze would knock her over. She glanced all around nervously in search of something or somepony.

Hammer could not see what, but the girl was clutching something around her neck.

"Adagio. Aria?" she called again, obviously waiting for something, anything, to answer her. Nothing did.

"Where are you? Please, tell me. . . I'm scared," she whimpered as a fresh wave of tears leaked from her eyes.

Hammer felt her heart begin to break as she watched the blue girl shuffle away, her pleas muffled by the all consuming silence. More than anything else at the moment, even more than going back to Equestria, she wanted to go up to the girl and help her in any way she could, but cruel, heartless logic in addition to years of following orders kept her in place. Hammer still knew next to nothing about this place, and for all she knew this girl might have been dangerous. And she was already under explicit orders from both the captain and the Princess to not interact with this worlds residents unless it became absolutely necessary.

So Hammer remained where she was, watching as the blue girl disappeared from sight as she continued to voice her pleas.

"Please. . . please don't leave me alone. . ."


Aegis and Crimson's sandals made a dual sound of slapping against the bottoms of their feet along with an annoying squeak almost every time time they took an unsteady step on the polished floor. The two were walking down a long and empty hallway with a row of metal storage compartments on either side. They were steadily better at walking as time went on, though they still felt the need to keep their outstretched hand on the wall to keep from stumbling.

"So. . ." Aegis spoke up, his voice echoing slightly in the silent din of the hall. "What do you think so far Crimson?"

Crimson didn't stop to look at him as she peeked around a corner before continuing on. "What do I think about what?" she asked, sounding as though she were disinterested.

"About this place I mean," Aegis began to explain as he glanced through the small window of a door. He tried to open it but found that it was locked from the inside. "What do you think happened here that's got that's got the Princess to come looking for somepony? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all for helping somepony in need, but this place just gives me the creeps like you wouldn't believe. It almost feels like a ghost town if you ask me."

"Nopony did ask you Aegis. Now be quiet and keep looking around."

Aegis rolled his eyes at his companion's gruff attitude, but kept his tongue in check as he continued to scan the walls for a map of any kind. It was then that he spotted a door that was slightly different from the others. Instead of a window it had a white label with the words Sound Room printed on it in bold lettering.

"Hey Crimson, check this one out," he said as he hobbled across the hall over to it.

"I'm not sure how sound is going to help us Aegis," Crimson muttered sarcastically to him, to which Aegis gave her a fed up look.

"Oh come on Crimson, aren't you a little curious about this place? Who knows, there might be something inside."

Aegis reached for the doorknob, and to his delight he found that it was unlocked, although he had some difficulty in getting the door itself to open, and it resisted his attempts to pull on it.

"Come on Aegis, just leave it alone. There's probably nothing in there anyway," said Crimson, but Aegis was not willing to give up just yet.

"Almost. . . got it. . ." he muttered before giving the door one last heave, and it swung open suddenly. However the moment he got it open both he and Crimson were assaulted by an invisible wall of stench that forced them to cover their mouths and nostrils with their forearms as they fought the sudden urge to vomit.

"Sweet Celestia!" Crimson exclaimed as she turned away. Aegis fought through the tears forming in his eyes to look inside the darkened room and see what was causing the smell. And what he saw in there did make him vomit. It was a body, slumped in a chair with little wheels on the legs. It was so decayed and rotten that it was impossible to tell what gender it even was, as its flesh had dissolved to the point where it lay in a pile of putrid mush beneath where it sat.

When Aegis recovered enough he looked to see Crimson standing a short distance away, doubled over with her arm over her stomach. Quickly Aegis shut the door and headed over to her and promptly said, sounding slightly out of breath, "Come on. We need to tell the Princess about this."

Crimson only nodded in response before the two hurried back the way they came.


For the umpteenth time since she first entered the human world Celestia wondered why the place seemed to be so devoid of any sort of life. It was a question that unsettled more than it probably should have, and it allowed her and the guards to move more freely without the risk of detection, but still the Princess could not shake the feeling from her gut that something was very wrong here. Celestia had already made it clear to not converse with the natives, but she felt it was extremely odd that she had yet to see so much as a mouse.

Why?

Celestia glanced around at the vacant hall they were now in, looking at the picture frames that adorned the walls. Each one depicted multiple humans conversing and competing and just generally having a good time just being with one another. So where were they? Sunset's message had made it abundantly clear that something terrible had happened that was causing everyone around her to perish, but what?

"Princess?" captain Stalwart ventured, interrupting her thoughts on the matter. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Celestia answered as she glanced at a poster board with a multitude of papers lying on the floor beneath it. None of them appeared to offer any hints where the building with a shooting star was, so she kept moving. Truthfully she was glad that the captain had decided to speak up, as it distracted from the direction her thoughts were taking.

"I was just wondering, how do you know as much as you do about this place? Have you been here before?"

For a moment Celestia thought on how to answer that question before replying.

"Actually , yes. Yes I have," she said as she glanced down an intersection in the hall way. "It was well over a thousand years ago, long before the rise of Nightmare Moon, long before even my sister and I became the stewards of the sun and moon. It was then that she and I, along with a unicorn mage we know today as Star Swirl the Bearded, discovered an ancient artifact left over from ages long past. Who had made it, and for what purpose, we did not know, but it was during our examination of it that we discovered its application as a doorway to another world. Out of my own curiosity I stepped through, and for a little while I interacted with the residents of this world."

"How did it go?"

Celestia sighed as old memories resurfaced from when she was still relatively young for an alicorn before answering.

"My presence was met with. . . mixed results. I only told a very few of this world of what I truly was, and where I came from, as I was not sure how I would be received. But despite my caution, word still managed to spread about my arrival. Some of the humans believed that I was an angel sent from the heavens to guide them to the path of righteousness." Celestia's face turned grim. "Others, however. . . they adamantly believed that I was a demon summoned from the depths to lead them astray. . . . I tried my very best to discount both of these beliefs, but it did little to ease tensions. . . . Soon after a short but bloody conflict arose, all because I was too curious to err on the side of caution when I stepped through."

"What did you do then?" Stalwart asked, concern evident in his tone.

". . . There was nothing left to do. It became obvious that my presence would cause nothing but grief and turmoil, and he-" Celestia cut herself before she spoke any further. ". . . I left. When the opportunity presented itself I left the humans to sort themselves out. I have never come back since."

Celestia's eyes became downcast as a sad frown found its way to her lips. Noticing this Stalwart asked, "Princess, are you alright?"

Celestia sighed deeply through her nostrils. "Yes captain," she said. "I only wish things had turned out differently then."

For a time the two remained silent as they walked down the, before Stalwart asked another question.

"Was the mirror ever used again? If not by you then by somepony else?"

"No," Celestia replied. "The mirror was never used for travel ever again, and it remained out of use for many years up until the welfare of Equestria was threatened by three individuals known in legend as the Sirens. If left unchecked they would have plunged Equestria into a state of turmoil not seen since Discord's reign. Thankfully Star Swirl had devised a plan to lure the Sirens to the portal while it was active, and managed to force them through just before it closed. Here, they would be powerless to do more than instigate a few arguements to feed their greatly diminished magic."

When the Princess finished her tale a thought wormed its way into Stalwart's mind that he knew would not leave him be until it was addressed.

"So, there is a chance that these Sirens might still be around? That we might run into them?" he asked as glanced back the way they came.

"I hope not captain." Celestia sad somberly. "I really do."

Just then Celestia spotted something rather strange. There ahead of them, a dark smudge could be seen on the floor, leading around a sharp corner.

"Captain?" she said, stooping down to inspect it. "What do make of this?"

Copying her movement Stalwart examined the smudge with a critical eye. "I may not know as much about these humans as you Princess," he began. "And this here looks like it's been here for a while, but I know blood when I see it." Looking at the dark trail he added, "And it looks like somepony was bleeding pretty badly."

Celestia only stared at the mark on the floor with a furrowed brow. Then, to the captains surprise, she stood suddenly and began to follow it.

"Princess?"

Celestia did not answer, but kept on walking in an almost trance like state before rounding the corner, leaving Stalwart's sight. The captain immediately became alarmed at this, and he tried to stand up to follow her. However his foot slipped out from under him and he landed with a painful thud onto the hard floor.

"Ack! Princess! Wait!"

Celestia still did not reply, as the blood trail continued onward until it ended abruptly at a pair of doors at the end of a hallway. She brought her gaze up and inspected them, trying to see through the small windows. Unfortunately they had been covered by a dark material, blocking her view. And there was an odd smell emanating from it as well. It was faint, but the Princess recognized it almost immedately.

It was the smell of death and decay.

Celestia hesitantly reached out with both arms to grasp the handles and push them open, and was only half aware of the captains voice calling out to her.

With a grating squeal the doors parted, and Celestia found found herself confronted with something more fitting for a foals nightmare.

Bodies.

Dozens of bodies.

Some were stacked on top of each other to make room for more to join them. And each and every single one of them had been covered by a white tarp that had become soiled by dark stains where the heads were located. Some of them had their bare feet sticking out or their arms hanging over each other, revealing blackened veins that spider-webbed across their pale sagging flesh like a mosaic.

Above them, written on the wall in suspicious red lettering was a single sentence that made Celestia's blood run cold.

No heaven, only hell.

Author's Note:

Now I bet some of you are wondering why I decided to come back and make this chapter longer. The truth is that I always intended to have this chapter be this long, but I let my laziness get to me, and I cut it in half. Then I decided that I probably should not have done that, so I came and completed it for real this time. I apologize for any inconvenience that I may have caused as result, and for likely confusing you by making you think there was an actual update.

As always, alert me to any errors within the story in the comments.