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Chapter 1 - Plague1,066 words
Chapter 2 - Night1,041 words
Chapter 3 - Time1,219 words
Chapter 4 - Rage1,462 words
Chapter 5 - Isolation1,125 words
Chapter 6 - Revelation2,069 words
Chapter 7 - Epilogue1,211 words

Chapter 1 - Plague

Long ago in ancient Equestria, the land was wrought with a horrific plague known as the Tenebray disease. It was rumoured that the plague was created by the tyrannical beast known as the father of monsters, Grogar. While Grogar has been long defeated by the legendary Gusty the Great, his evil still remained and the rest of Equestria had to deal with the fallout of his vile deeds. The disease slowly turned those afflicted with it into dark and monstrous entities that barely resembled their original pony form. And those who didn't immediately turn into monsters slowly became rabid and violent. It was on the orders of King Kronus, the more noble successor to Grogar's reign, to have those infected with the plague rounded up and taken to the Dragon Lands, where the draconic inhabitants there will put the poor souls out of their misery and incinerate them.

A young mare travelled to the Dragon Lands to look for some precious stones under the orders of her mentor, Star-Swirl the Bearded, for Star-Swirl needed them for a spell. She wore a bright white tunic covering her dark blue coat and her incredibly long mane was a shade of purple. She had a slender figure and her eyes were a beautiful hazel. It was Ardent Cadenza, a healer that was a delight to everypony that knew her. She looked at the recent pile of charred corpses with horror, disgust and despair. It saddened her to know that, even though she could use her magic to heal the sick, there were only so many ponies she could get to in time before they fully succumbed to the illness and had to be put down. She trotted away from the ghastly sight and continued looking throughout the Dragon Lands for the stones.

"Perhaps I should have asked Future Wonder where I would find the Fizzineral stones before going out on this trek" Ardent spoke to herself "Oh well, I needed the exercise anyway."

Ardent pulled out a scroll hidden in her tunic and opened it up to take a look at it. The scroll had a picture of the Fizzineral stones printed onto it. The stones were a sparkling red, according to the picture. Reminding herself of what the stones looked like, Ardent put the scroll back and continued on her merry way. She travelled for what felt like miles, only stopping after she had a coughing fit that caused her to spit up a bile-like substance onto the ground.

"Oh dear," Ardent said in a worried tone.

"Art thou okay, madam?" A small, frail and elderly dragon asked Ardent.

"Tis nothing" Ardent replied.

The dragon looked at the pile of burnt bodies in the distance. The same pile Ardent was at moments ago.

"Tis a great pity what they are doing to those cursed with that horrid plague."

"Tis indeed. I wish I could just heal everypony but, alas, I am but one unicorn."

"Art thou a healer perchance?"

"I am."

"My granddaughter has fallen ill and I fear it might be the plague. I'd offer thee a bountiful reward in exchange for her health and safety."

"No need. The knowledge that I am using my gifts to cure those of this wretched disease is all the reward I would want."
The elderly dragon led Ardent to a cave that was just a small walk away. It was surprisingly small but just big enough for an adult dragon to fit in. It was a darker red in comparison to the rest of the Dragon Lands and had stalagmites forming from the ceiling. At the back of the cave is a female dragon slightly bigger than the elderly dragon. She was malnourished and the plague gave her unnatural yellow eyes and a dark purple tint on most of her body that looked like it was making its way up to her neck. She was chained up like an animal, her behaviour leaving little wonder as to why that is. Ardent trotted closer to the female dragon and bowed her head. Her horn lit up as she absorbed the plague into herself. Ardent believed that if one was to purge this plague, one must absorb it into oneself and then use one's knowledge of healing and medical arts to nullify it into nothing more than a cough. Unfortunately, repeating that same process over and over has caused the disease to slowly develop immunity within her. But as long as her ability to heal others is unaffected, she is fine.
The dragon calmed down from her rabid state and fell into a deep sleep. Rest for her would be needed if she were to recover from the plague's influence. Ardent smiled at the peacefully sleeping dragon, only to wince as she felt a sharp shooting pain up her back and right foreleg. She looked at her foreleg and noticed, to her horror, that the diseased tint that was on the dragon was now on her.

"Milady?" the elderly dragon asked.

Ardent quickly covered up her infected leg.

"All is well," Ardent said, "Your granddaughter is better now."

As the elderly dragon sang his praises, Ardent trotted off to get back to the task at hoof, even though her leg now felt like it would fall off at any moment.

In a lecture hall made entirely of marble and located within Canterlot, Star-Swirl was teaching the two alicorn sisters the essentials to healing magic.

"The Tenebray disease is just that. A disease. With the proper treatment, anypony can be spared from its ill effects, if one can excuse the pun."

Celestia wrote down notes, for she had more confidence in her healing abilities than her sister, Luna. Luna just sat there and listened to what Star-Swirl had to say.

"If you two are to do your parents proud, you must not condemn those inflicted with the disease and slaughter them as if they were monsters. Your father is trying to look for more peaceful solutions in order to assure those outside of Equestria that he is nothing like the father of monsters."

The sound of a door opening interrupted Star-Swirl's train of thought. Star-Swirl and the two sisters looked at where the noise originated and saw Ardent enter the lecture hall.

"Thou can't be any more correct, Master" Ardent said, "Oh, and my sincerest apologies for interrupting thy lecture on the plague."

Author's Note:

It wouldn't hurt to admit that I am slightly inconsistent with who's speaking the ancient Equestrian tongue. Let's just say those who are born and raised in Canterlot and a fair few old people with the exception of Star-Swirl speak the ancient Equestrian tongue. One would assume that, with the exception of Luna, everypony wanted to get with the times.

And if you're wondering who King Kronus is, read red reaper's backstory for his villain to find out more:

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/446847/the-fallen-prince

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DmitriTheWriter

DmitriTheWriter #1 · Aug 19th, 2019 · · ·

Interesting beginning. Actually reminds me a lot of this story by Quillian Inkheart.

TAmorphous: The Tale of Arcadês the Immortal

When Twilight stumbles on an ancient tome telling them the last known location of the legendary pony alchemist Arcadês, Twilight and her friends simply must go and learn her secrets. What they gain though, is far more than any of them ever dreamed.