My Little Diseases - Chapter 1 - Catalyst

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Twilight was making her way through Ponyville, her wings spread wide as she walked through the streets toward the market square, which she was planning on going through, as a shortcut, toward the edge of town. Her saddle bag swayed a bit with her movements.

As she got to the market, many ponies greeted her, smiling wide and waving to the purple alicorn as she made her way past many tents, selling different products. From fruit and vegetables, to flowers, and even pet supplies.

The market was always busy with ponies. Either walking through to go home, or going through the pathway in the middle to go to another sales tent. It was always quite difficult to make her way through swiftly. Especially during this time of day. Many tents were able to restock as well, so everything was fresh. The air was filled with the different smells of products being sold, many spices, some flowers, some food being cooked in different tents.
It was very crowded and Twilight was somewhat struggling to get through, even as she was saying hi to everyone who greeted her.

Her hooves clicked along the stone path as she walked, so distracted by trying to get through the market in one piece, that she accidentally bumped into Pinkie Pie, who was purchasing extra confetti from a party stand.

The 2 ponies fell to the ground in a small pile, catching the attention of a few onlookers. The 2 ponies blushed a bit as they got up and brushed themselves off, before Twilight used her magic to gather up the bags Pinkie had dropped, and slipping them into her white saddle bag.

“I'm so sorry Pinkie, I didn't see you, are you alright?”
Twilight asked the party pony, as she pulled a leaf from her puffy mane.

“Haha, I'm alright Twilight don't worry, but you seem to be in a bit of a rush, where are you headed off to?”
Pinkie asked, finally getting to her hooves and checking the ground for any other items that may have dropped, before finally looking up at Twilight, their eyes locking. They couldn't help but smile at each other as their gazes met, and their cheeks reddened a bit.

After a moment of the 2 staring at each other, Pinkie cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her neck, before repeating her question.
“S-So uh… Where did you say you were headed?”

Twilight quickly snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head a bit, before responding in a slightly flustered tone.
“O-oh haha, i'm going to visit Zecora. She sent me a scroll asking for my help in the Everfree Forest. She needs some help gathering ingredients and believes having the extra help would help cover more ground.”

She explained quickly before giving Pinkie the scroll she had tucked in her own saddle bag for Pinkie to read over. Now that Zecora had spent so much time around ponies, she was able to write in ‘pony speak’.
But she preferred to talk out loud in her usual, rhyming dialogue. She felt more comfortable that way.

The scroll read:
“Dear Twilight.
I hope this scroll finds you well. I am writing to ask a favour from you. I need to gather more supplies from around my home, and I would like to formally request your help. I believe that the 2 of us working together would work a lot faster than just myself.

If you have the time,please come and see me at my home in the Everfree Forest, and I will take you to where my supply gathering clearing is.

Thankyou and see you soon

Zecora”

Pinkie finished reading the scroll and chuckled a bit.
“It's always strange seeing Zecora write in the way we speak, especially since she’s always rhyming when she speaks, she’s like a poet!”

Twilight laughed and nodded in agreement before taking the scroll back and rolling it back up so it fit snug back into her bag.
“You have a point there Pinkie. But I best get going, Zecora’s waiting for me.”

The pair then said their goodbyes, Twilight’s smile never leaving her face as she made her way out of town, past Fluttershy's cottage and toward the Everfree Forest.

As Twilight stepped into the intimidating woodland, the thick foliage and leaves cut off almost all sunlight, making the trek through the forest rather eerie, especially with all the creatures that roamed free within the woods, all the different properties that you’d never see in Ponyville. Such as the clouds moving on their own, or certain things being seen out of the corner of your eye.

The occasional twig snap was enough to cause Twilight to jolt in surprise, before she picked up the pace from a walk to a quick trot.
She had been in the forest many times, but the odd noise from an unknown direction would put any pony on edge. Soon enough she arrived at Zecora’s home, knocking gently on the door and calling inside.

“Zecora? I'm here! Are you home?”
After a moment of silence, Zecora opened her door, the wave of warm air washed over Twilight’s body, giving the alicorn a gentle embrace, along with the different smells of mixed herbs and spices greeted Twilight’s nostrils.

The alicorn always felt very welcomed and relaxed at Zecora’s home, and she found herself visiting more often nowadays, just chatting over a cup of herbal tea.

Zecora smiled wide to Twilight, always happy to see her alicorn friend.
“Ah, Twilight, so glad you’re here. You’re not usually free this time of year”

Twilight returned Zecora’s smile with a bright grin of her own, before responding.
“Haha yeah, normally I’d be in Canterlot planning the Grand Galloping Gala by now. But I managed to find some time to get away and come home for a bit to hand out invitations. So I thought I'd make some time and stop by.”

She explained before Zecora invited her inside. The aroma of mixed spices and herbs filled the air, and Twilight’s ears were greeted by bamboo windchimes, as the door bumped into them, and the warmth that radiated from Zecora’s open fire under her cauldron, always made the hut feel cozy and inviting. Especially during the colder months.

Zecora then spoke up.
“As the message in my scroll inquired, to refill my store, several items I require.”

Twilight nodded in understanding, standing beside Zecora and taking off her saddle bag with her magic. She sat her bag on a nearby chair so it was out of the way, before turning to her Zebra friend.
“Yeah, your scroll mentioned that you wanted to go to a nearby clearing to gather resources for your remedies. How far is this clearing anyways? I'm curious.”

Zecora then pulls out a map from a nearby set of cabinets. It was a map of the nearby vicinity, pointing to the clearing that they were going to. It was about a 5 minute walk from here.
Zecora then pointed toward the back of her home.
“I have many tools in my shack. Help yourselves to the ones in the back”

“Oh alright, thanks Zecora!”
Twilight responded before making her way out of Zecora’s house and around the back. There was a small wooden shack that was decorated with different masks from Zecora’s homeland, that she couldn't fit on the walls inside her home.

Twilight took a moment to admire the masks, all the different colours of paint and dye used on the perfectly carved woodwork to make the masks what they are, and what they mean. Different species' cultures always fascinated Twilight, and she had become very interested in Zecora’s culture recently, which prompted the more recent visits, not just for a friendly chat, but so Twilight could learn more about Zecora and her roots. Zecora, of course, was always happy to share this information.

Twilight then gently opened the door of the shack and poked her head inside. It was lined with shelves of different items.
Those being some empty jars, a few brown fabric bags and some protective gloves, which Twilight took for her hooves. She also spotted some common gardening tools in the back, such as a shovel, a pickaxe and a couple of sickles.
Twilight went for the shovel, and used her magic to put the gloves onto her front hooves.

When she emerged from the shack, Zecora was already there waiting for her, holding Twilight’s saddle bag in her teeth, along with her own bag on her back, Zecora also had a pair of gloves on her front hooves, and she grabbed one of the sickles from the shack, before closing the door.
Twilight took her bag and sat it down on her own back, her wings fitting comfortably on either side of the back strap.

With Twilight following close behind Zecora, they made their way to the clearing. It was fully surrounded in thick, dark trees, with a canopy so dense that it almost fully blocked out the sunlight. Say for the odd ray of sun that managed to fight its way through the leaves to shine through into the shadows.

The clearing was rather large, and would take any pony a good 5 minutes to walk around its perimeter.
Along the edge, as well as dotted around the clearings centre, were many different species of plant. Some bright blue and glowing faintly, some were bright red that stood proud. And others were a variety of colours that all looked like they could be dangerous just to look at.

Zecora smiled, looking at twilight and telling her to go in one direction, while Zecora walked in the other. Soon enough the pair were working their way through, collecting plants, wild herbs and vines.

Zecora was using her sickle to cut through the roots of the plants, while Twilight was uprooting the entire planet, so Zecora could make the most out of what they gathered. After about 20 minutes of gathering, their bags were nearly full, so many colours were mixed together, many different scents emerged between the woven sides of their bags, plaguing their nostrils and causing the occasional cough from Zecora and Twilight.

Twilight had decided to grab one more plant and call it quits before the scents got too overwhelming.
She found a glowing blue flower that stood proud on its own, almost picture perfect with the shadows of the forest behind it, and a singular, tiny ray of light shining on it.
Twilight smiled wide at her discovery and grabbed her shovel.

“Zecora! I'm going to grab one more and then I'll be done!” Twilight called out, getting a nod from Zecora in response.
Twilight then pushed her shovel into the ground, just an inch away from the plant, so she could also gather some of the roots.
It took a bit of extra force, as the ground was rather dry around the plant, before Twilight’s shovel suddenly broke through something that was buried in the dirt, that sprayed a black liquid into Twilight’s face.

Causing the Alicorn to drop her shovel, gagging and coughing.
Her eyes shut tightly as her face was caked in the thick spore and liquid mix that suddenly shot out of the ground. She tried to wipe her face clean, but she only managed to spread it further across her face.
The liquid clung to her fur, staining it and refusing to move with the efforts Twilight was making.

All the racket caught the attention of Zecora who came trotting over with worry on her face.

“My, Twilight, are you alright? I wouldn’t want you catching a blight.”
Zecora asked, with concern lining her tone as she saw the Alicorn still coughing violently.

“I don't… ugh… I don't know what happened, I tried digging up that plant and something sprayed in my face…”
Twilight explained as Zecora looked past her, at the plant that was now half uprooted.
The sun ray from earlier shone down into the small hole that was made, causing something to glimmer.
Zecora then walked over, gently shifting the dirt to the side with the shovel, to reveal that Twilight had broken through what looked like a glass sphere, the inside of it being caked in a layer of spores and condensation, with a singular tiny mushroom growing on the inside.

“Well that's strange, I do not recognize this sphere. Come, my home should still be near”

Twilight gave a nod, reaching out a hoof to try and reach Zecora. Her eyes shut tight to keep the spore filled liquid from flooding her vision.
Instead, Zecora nudged her muzzle under Twilight’s wing, promoting her to use that instead.
With Twilight’s wing resting across Zecora’s back, she managed to guide the purple alicorn back to her home. Where she gently sat twilight down and began making a bowl of warm water and a rag.

“First let’s get you clean” Zecora said softly, telling Twilight what she was about to do, since her eyes were still closed.

Zecora walked over to Twilight and began gently wiping the liquid away, the warm water managed to wipe the liquid away with ease. Her purple fur was now slightly darker around her face from the pigment of the spores and liquid mix.
Once Twilight’s face was cleared, the alicorn finally opened her eyes, only to be greeted by Zecora’s worried face.

“D-do i really look that bad?”
Twilight asked with concern, her ears folding back and her wings opening a bit.
The Zebra then took out a small wooden stick and signalled for Twilight to open her mouth, which she did.
She used the stick to hold Twilight’s tongue out of the way so she could look into her mouth better, only to see that her throat was stained black. Twilight had inhaled whatever spores were inside that sphere.

“It appears you inhaled that stuff to a high degree. Maybe we should stop for now, wouldn’t you agree?” Zecora asked as she put the rag away, and put her gloves into the nearby trash can.

“Alright well, I'm glad I was able to help out Zecora. Sorry for suddenly causing so much chaos…”
Twilight responded, before coughing a bit into her front hoof. She then used her magic to remove the gloves and throw them away in the nearby trash can.

Zecora simply gave a dismissive wave before opening the door, the bamboo wind chimes clinking together again, filling the room with their simple melody.

“You look rough, go home and rest. You have done more than enough, I can do the rest.” Zecora instructed with a smile, which was met with a simple nod from Twilight.

The alicorn picked up her bag, leaving the gathered materials on the nearby table along with Zecora’s load, before making her way out and back to Ponyville. Though not without a few small coughs and splutters.
Which surely didn't go unnoticed by some of the citizens. Twilight soon reached her castle, still coughing slightly as she closed the door.

“S-spike? Are you home?”
Twilight called out into the castle, putting her now empty saddle bag down by the door, and slowly walking through the halls of her castle.
Her hoofsteps echoed on the crystal floor, and the rooms shone with a grand display of small rainbow prisms that slowly faded the deeper she went into the castle.

She soon came to the castle’s kitchen, where she found Spike. He was making a cake with a new cook-book that Twilight had not seen before. Walking in, she peeked at the front cover, it was a cook book written by Mr and Mrs cake, all about baking and many different recipes they had discovered over the years.
“Baking through the years” the title read, and the front cover was the Cakes holding some baking equipment like whisks and baking trays.

“Hey twilight!” Spike finally said, he had seen Twilight come in, but was focused on counting some pony friendly, edible gemstones for his muffins he was making.
Once he had finished counting and putting them into separate containers by colour, he hopped off of his stool and hugged the purple alicorn.

“Hey… are you ok? You look rough. Did something happen while you were with Zecora?”
Spike asked, looking at Twilight’s half lidded eyes.

“Yeah.. We were almost done and something that was hidden in the dirt I had accidentally smashed open, spraying my face with some kind of liquid.
Zecora looked me over and asked me to go home and rest up. I don't feel right, I'm hoping some rest will do me some good, especially with the Gala coming up.”
Twilight explained, before smiling down at the dragon.

“I'm sure I'll be ok. If anything changes, I'll let you know.”
She then gave Spike a tight hug, wrapping her hooves and wings around him in a warm embrace, before making her way upstairs and to her bedroom, where she climbed into her bed, wrapped herself in her blankets, and drifted off to sleep.

My Little Diseases - Chapter 2 - Infection

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It had been about a week since Twilight returned home from Zecora’s place. She had been in and out of her library, every day, for the whole week. Trying to figure out what was going on with her. Scouring through her books and reading each one, cover to cover, trying to understand why her body was changing.

While Twilight was reading a herbal remedy book, she heard a knock on the door, turning around, she saw that Spike was standing in the doorway with Rarity.
“Hey Twilight! Rarity’s here to talk about her part in planning the Gala!”
Spike explained, before inviting Rarity into the room, and leaving the 2 ponies to talk.

“Hey Rarity, how are things going?”
Twilight asked, she had dark bags under her eyes from the late nights of research, her body was beginning to change slightly from the substance she inhaled. It was only minor changes, but they were noticeable to a pony with an eye for small details, like Rarity.

Twilight’s bright pink magic was beginning to darken in colour, and the veins around the base of Twilight's horn had turned black, they were mostly obstructed by her mane, but when exposed, they were visible to the naked eye.
Rarity took a moment to look at Twilight’s horn as she noticed the black veins on her purple friend’s forehead, she gently moved Twilight’s hair out of the way to get a better look.

“Twilight.. Are you feeling alright? Your horn is different.”
Rarity asked, looking at her friend’s tired expression.

“I don't think so. I inhaled something strange at Zecora’s place and it's making me sick… I've been researching into what might be happening, but none of my books have provided any answers”
Twilight explained as she used her magic to put the books she had out, back on their respective shelves.

“Well… I was here to discuss the different coutures that I had made for the Gala, but that can wait, let's get you sorted first.”
Rarity responded simply, before picking up one of the books before Twilight had grabbed it, opening it and reading the front cover. The book was called “Lost Illnesses”. She then opened the book to the front page, which read:

‘Long lost illnesses. These diseases and viruses have been lost through time, either by the disease itself dying out, or ponies simply growing immune to it through vaccinations or evolution.’

Rarity then had a flick through, driven by morbid curiosity, trying to see if there was an article that Twilight may have missed, given how frantically she flicked through her books at times. But getting to the middle of the book, she found that one of the pages had been ripped out.
“Twilight look.”
Rarity said, holding up the book to her alicorn friend. “There’s a page missing.”

“But… How?”
Twilight started.
“This book was in mint condition when I got it in Canterlot. Spike! Were you eating my books in your sleep again!?”

Twilight shouted out to her dragon friend, only to be given a confused response.
“No, I don't sleep eat anymore, not after I figured out to eat a big meal before bed.”
Spike explained, as Twilight turned back to Rarity.

Rarity had now put the book away, and she began to explain what she believes they should do.
“Well, for now, I'd say if your books aren't giving any answers you’re looking for, have Spike look for the missing page around the castle, and we’ll go to Ponyville Hospital to see if they can give us any clue as to what’s going on. You never know, maybe the page got caught on something when your books were all transported here… Or… what was left of them”

Twilight nodded slowly in agreement, remembering the day she lost her old tree home to Tirek, losing almost all of her books, except for a select few of leather covered books. After a few moments, she thought about Rarity’s plan and smiled, before calling Spike over to get him brought up to speed.

“Spike, Rarity is going to go with me to the hospital, to see if this illness is known at all. The book that we found has a missing page, so could you look around the castle for it?”

Twilight asked, and Spike gave a salute and a determined smile.
“You can count on me Twilight! I’ll turn this castle upside down if I have to!”

Twilight giggled a bit and hugged Spike gently. Before saying goodbye and going with Rarity to the hospital.

On the way to the hospital, Twilight gave a few yawns and winced a bit, as the occasional wave of pain passed through her horn. Rarity gave her alicorn friend a concerned look as they walked side by side, and Rarity began to notice other citizens of Ponyville looking rather worried with each wince Twilight made, some of them whispering to each other.

Cutting through the town square and through the market, they soon got to the hospital, and walked into the main lobby, only to be greeted by Nurse Redheart at the front desk.

“Hello there Rarity, Princess Twilight, how may I assist you 2 today?”
She asked, her tone as friendly and welcoming as usual, her greeting almost instantly put the pair at ease before Rarity stepped forward to explain their situation.

“Well, Twilight here has been going through some odd changes, her magic colour has darkened and there's some dark lines at the base of her horn. She’s also feeling a lot of fatigue. Do you think you could have a look at her and help us understand what’s going on?”
Rarity explained, before Nurse Redheart looked at Twilight. The big bags under her eyes, the darkening horn base and the overall look of Twilight made her rather concerned.

“Alright, follow me”
Nurse Redheart instructed, as Rarity and Twilight followed her down a nearby hallway to one of the many examination rooms the hospital had.
Twilight sat down on the bed that sat along one of the walls, while Rarity sat in one of the many chairs available in the room.

Soon, Doctor Stable walked into the room and smiled wide at the pair, putting her stethoscope around the back of her neck.
“Hello, Nurse Redheart got me all caught up on what’s going on, so Twilight, with your permission I'd like to have a better look at you and see if we can determine what’s wrong.”

Twilight nodded to the doctor and allowed them to do a few quick tests. It was the usual routine. Checking her blood pressure, taking a few saliva samples, a blood sample and taking her weight and height.
Doctor Stable soon walked back into the room after running the saliva and blood tests, holding a clipboard.

She looked rather confused.
“How is everything doc?” Rarity asked, looking rather concerned, as Twilight had begun continuously coughing, as if she had something stuck in her throat.

“Well… We ran the tests, and her blood and saliva results came back saying there's nothing wrong. But just looking at Princess Twilight here, I can see that something is severely wrong.” Doctor Stable responded, her ears folding back as she walked over to Twilight, taking one more look into her mouth.

The black stain that was in her throat had now spread to the rest of her mouth, except for her teeth. Making her teeth look like they were floating in some kind of dark void. Twilight’s ears folded back and she looked at the doctor with worry.

“What do you think it is?” Twilight asked, worry growing on her face.
Doctor Stable put her hoof to her chin in thought.

“Well at the moment, you’re showing cold symptoms, along with the strange signs of your magic going dark in colour, and the dark lines around your horn. Any other doctor would say it's just a cold. But I have no idea what this would be… Ill take the results we have from your sample tests, and see if I can draw any other kind of conclusion… For now i’d say go home and quarantine yourself, just in case this infection is highly contagious.” The doctor explained, her ears folding back, feeling rather guilty that she couldn't do more to help.

Rarity gave the doctor a soft smile, while helping Twilight off of the examination bed.
“Well, we greatly appreciate your help. I'll take her home to get some rest, let us know if you find anything.”

The doctor gave a nod and discharged Twilight from the hospital, allowing the 2 of them to go back to Twilight’s castle.

Twilight was having a bit of trouble staying upright while walking, and had to lean on Rarity for most of the trip. This prompted some of the citizens of Ponyville to take notice and some tried to help.
Carrot Top ran over to the other side of Twilight, helping Rarity support the alicorn as they walked back to the castle.
Other citizens walked alongside the pair, making sure they remained steady, as well as being there in case Carrot Top needed to switch with anyone.

“What's going on? Is Princess Twilight ok?” Carrot Top asked, out of pure curiosity.
Prompting rarity to give a brief explanation, just to get her up to speed.

“She’s contracted a strange illness that the hospital can't identify. So they’ve instructed her to go home and quarantine just in case it's contagious. But I don't think it is, I've been with Twilight all day and I haven't felt any different.”
Rarity explained, and Carrot Top nodded in understanding.

Once they reached the castle, Rarity thanked Carrot Top and the other citizens for their help, and guided Twilight inside.
With the help from Spike, they got Twilight upstairs and into bed, where she landed on the bedding with a soft poof sound, and her body laid heavy on the mattress.
Twilight then gave a soft groan and rolled over in bed, revealing that her torso was now covered in dark spots that seem to have formed under the skin. They were tough, almost like white heads, but were dark in colour.

With frantic worry, Rarity left the bedroom and went to the castle library, picking up a scroll and a quill, as well as some ink. She then called Spike to the library and they began writing a scroll to Princess Celestia.

“If there’s anyone who may have SOME kind of answer, it's got to be Celestia…”

The scroll said:
‘Dear Princess Celestia.
My apologies for the sudden urgency, but there is something wrong with Twilight… She has suddenly fallen ill with an unknown virus and we don't know who else to help her.

Her magic has gone almost completely black in colour, the veins around her horn and forehead are becoming visible, as well as also turning black. And as of this morning, she has developed some strange spots on her stomach that are darker than her usual fur colour, but I suspect they will soon turn completely black as well.

If you have any knowledge or any kind of explanation for this, please write back to us as soon as you can…

Kind Regards

Rarity.’

Spike then sent the scroll to Celestia in a small burst of green flame, before looking up at Rarity.
“Well… All we can do now is wait…” Spike said softly, tears coming to his eyes as he thought about Twilight and her current condition.

Rarity’s ears folded back and she hugged Spike tightly, comforting him the best way she could think of.
“It's alright Spike.. I'm sure the princesses will think of something…”

Rarity then remembered the lost page from Twilights book and asked Spike if he had found it.

"Oh... No. I searched all over the castle. I found a bunch of spare scrolls, some lost quills and even a comic book i had lost... But no book pages..."
Spike admitted in a rather defeated tone.

So until Celestia writes back... All they could do, was sit and watch Twilight's condition get worse...

My Little Diseases - Chapter 3 - The cure

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It had been a full day since Rarity and Spike sent the scroll to Celestia, in that time, Twilight’s condition had gotten much worse.

Her breathing was shallow, her eyes were barely open, and her horn was leaking some kind of toxic viscus from the tip that ran down her horn and over her muzzle, staining her fur. The veins on her forehead had now spread entirely across her upper head, stopping just below her eyes.
She was laying on her side, because the pain in her torso was too great to lay on.
The spots on her stomach had gone completely black, just like Rarity had predicted, and were now becoming more blotchy.
Her horn had turned completely black, just like the inside of her mouth, and she didn't have the energy to do much except for move her head and her front hooves.

While sitting in Twilight’s bedroom in silent worry, Spike suddenly let out a belch that resulted in him receiving a scroll from Celestia. Rarity looked at Spike with wide eyes and trotted across the room.
“Was that from Celestia?”
Rarity frantically asked, and Spike nodded, quickly opening the scroll.

Spike then showed Rarity the scroll, and the 2 of them began reading it together.
It read.

‘Dear Rarity.

Thankyou for reaching out. I can assure you that I do know of this illness…
Though it is with my deepest regret that it might be too late for Twilight. Unless you act quickly.
The illness is called “the unseen blight”. It is a virus that attacks alicorns only, turning their magic into a toxic substance that will run through the bloodstream, and eventually attack their organs directly.

I will be sending Princess Luna to Ponyille to explain the cure and how to get it to work. She will be with you shortly. I wish you luck…

Regards, Celestia.’

Rarity and Spike stared at each other with wide eyes, and both began tearing up. Twilight was dying, and all they could do was sit and wait until Princess Luna arrived.

“T-twilight…?” Rarity says softly, prompting the alicorn to look at Rarity slowly, her half lidded eyes eventually finding the white unicorn.
“The infection you have is called the Unseen Blight.. And judging by what Celestia just told us, there’s a chance that you have at least a week left to be cured, before it's too late. But we can't be sure…”

Rarity explains, tears running down her cheeks, prompting Twilight to weakly reach out and wipe Rarity’s cheek.

“I think… I think I'll be ok… I have faith in you..”
Twilight responses, her voice hoarse and strained.

About an hour passes, before they hear something almost crash land on the balcony at the end of the hallway outside of the bedroom. It was Princess Luna!
Rarity frantically opened the door, her ears folding back and tears running down her face as she greeted the moon Princess.

Before Rarity could ask questions, the other elements of harmony came bounding in through the front door, and ran upstairs where Rarity was.

“Rarity? What’s goin’ on?! We saw Princess Luna fly over to the castle!”
Applejack asked, with the others looking rather concerned.

“Well, I'm glad you could all be here, as I don't know how long Twilight has left.”
Luna says, hanging her head slightly, causing the Elements of harmony to look between themselves with great concern.

“So Celestia sent rarity here a scroll.”
Princess Luna Started.

“This scroll explains what is going on. Twilight is infected with an infection called “The Unseen Blight”. It is a virus that attacks only alicorns, turning their magic into a toxic mucus-like substance that slowly enters the bloodstream and starts attacking the alicorn's internal organs directly. There is a way to cure it, but it's a very difficult procedure.”

Luna pauses, allowing everyone to process what’s just been said, before looking back at Luna, awaiting for her to explain further.

“To cure ‘The Unseen Blight’, a horn transplant must be performed. And that is why I'm here. The procedure can only be performed with alicorn magic, and a willing unicorn’s horn… Only once the horns are switched, and the alicorn’s magic is restored, will they return to a healthy state and make a full recovery. The main downside is that this procedure has a 100% mortality rate for the unicorn… The unicorn will not survive…”

As Princess Luna explained all of this, her head hung and her tone turned into a rather guilty one. The elements of harmony grew worried, as they listened intently to what Luna had to say.

“We learned this, because Princess Cadance was infected with the unseen Blight many moons ago. Long before Twilight had even moved to Ponyville. The procedure requires the use of the entire horn, and the unicorn that volunteered to save Cadance, didn't make it, because the unicorn suddenly becomes too weak to keep functioning, and passes away almost immediately after their horn is removed…”

Luna’s ears fold back as she finishes explaining what the procedure is, and she struggles to look any of the ponies in the eye.
The elements of harmony look between each other. The silence couldnt have been more loud. Until Rainbow Dash finally spoke up.

“Well then, all we need to do is find a unicorn who would be willing to give the ultimate sacrifice.”
Rainbow said slowly, her ears folding back.

“But who in Equestria would want to–?”
Applejack Started, before Rarity cut her off.

“I'll do it.”
Rarity stated, standing tall and confident. Causing everyone else to look at her in shock.

“Are you sure? you know what will happen.”
Princess Luna asks, and rarity nods, looking Luna in the eye.

“These last 2 days, I have been doing everything I can to help Twilight figure out what’s been going on, while trying my best to keep Ponyville’s citizens at ease about what’s happening. All our research and questions asked led to dead ends. The only answer we had was a vague scroll from Celestia that arrived an hour before you did Luna… I feel like it's the least i can do”
Rarity explained, adamant that she wanted to give the ultimate sacrifice to save her friend's life.
It was clear there was no changing Rarity’s mind, and the others couldn't help but tear up, as it dawned on them that they were about to lose one of their friends, to save another.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Spike all hugged Rarity tightly, a few of them holding back their sobs as they knew this would be the last time they saw Rarity alive.

“We’ll give you some time to prepare.”
Princess Luna said, before leading the others into Twilight’s bedroom, to see her and tell her what was about to happen, while Rarity made her way downstairs, asking Spike to follow her.

The white unicorn made her way into Twilight’s study, grabbing a scroll and quill, beginning to write. She was writing a letter to Sweetie Belle.

It read.
‘My dearest Sweetie Belle.
By the time you’ve received this letter, I won't be around anymore. I will have passed on from this world and moved on into the next, Im writing this letter to say….

I love you. You have been an amazing little sister to me and I cannot thank you enough for the amount of support you have given me throughout my fashion career.
You have always been there for me, during my best times, and during my not so great times.
We’ve had so many laughs, you and I, haven't we?
It's been wonderful, being your big sister, and it pains me to say goodbye in such an unruly way… But it must be done…

Take good care of Opal, the boutique is now yours to do as you please with.
You can turn it into the brand new, cutie mark crusaders clubhouse if you want!

I love you so much Sweetie Belle, and I wish you the best of luck for the future.
Lots of love
.Rarity’

Rarity set the quill down, tears running down her face and her breathing was shaky, she slowly turned to spike, putting the scroll in an envelope and passing it to him.

“G-go and deliver that to Sweetie Belle please Spike.. Won't you?”
Rarity asks, her ears folding back as she sees how teary the baby dragon was.
Spike burst into tears for a moment, wrapping his arms around rarity and burying his face into her shoulder.

“It's alright Spike… I'll be ok, I promise… But it must be this way…”
Rarity explains before sending Spike on his way to the boutique to deliver the letter to Sweetie Belle.

After a few deep breaths and drying her face, she makes her way back upstairs to meet the others in Twilight’s bedroom.

Everyone stood around her bed in silence, say for the odd snivel as they saw the condition Twilight was in.

A soft tune was playing throughout the room, it was coming from a music box that sat on the bedside table beside Twilight’s head. The alicorn was watching the little figure inside spin in small circles as the music chimed.

It was a white and gold music box that was gifted to her as a filly. She had brought it with her to Ponyville, as she used it as a method of keeping herself calm when things got too stressful.

The music chimed and looped from the little box, and once Rarity entered, Twilight went to speak.

“Girls… Just in case this procedure does not work… Please let me take this moment to say a few things…. Girls.. I am so proud of all of you… We have all come so far, saved so many lives together, and our friendship has grown so strong, that I feel like not a single thing could break the bonds between us… “

Twilight then turned over in bed a little bit, looking at Pinkie Pie directly.

“Pinkie Pie… I don't know why I didn't tell you sooner… But… I love you… And I have for a very long time… I've had feelings for you for such a long time, longer than I can remember… I know it's harsh, saying all of this now, but I want to get everything I wanted to say out into the air…”

Rainbow Dash scowled at this, her ears folding back, and she moved away from the group a little bit.

Twilight then moves her head to look at Princess Luna, who was struggling to hold herself together.
“Princess Luna… Can you please tell Celestia, that I am so sorry, that I wasn't more careful… None of this would have happened, if I had simply thought of what could happen from my actions.
And Luna.. Thankyou, for coming all this way to help me… And if it doesn't work, just know that you did everything you could.. And that’s more than enough… And Rarity…?”

Twilight paused for a moment, giving Rarity a chance to look at her.

“Thank You… For this… You have no idea how much of an impact you’re going to make if this works. Thankyou for being such a kind soul to me for these last few days…”

Rarity walked forward slowly, and hugged twilight gently, before stepping back, so Luna could get started.

“Alright… Everypony i’ll need you to stand back, Rarity, stand beside me please…”
Luna instructed, and everyone did as they were told.

Rarity stood beside Luna, and nodded slowly, signalling that she was ready and braced herself.
Luna’s horn lights up slowly, as she begins casting a spell to extract as much as the toxic viscus that was leaking from Twilight’s horn.
As Luna extracted the viscus, the blotches on Twilight’s torso began to slowly fade. And as that spell did its job, Luna turned to Rarity.

Rarity took a deep breath and nodded, and Luna’s horn lit up again.
A spell began to form a ring around Rarity’s horn that slowly began to dig into the skin, and dig out the bone from the skull to detach it.
Rarity cried out in pain, her ears folding back and her eyes shut tightly.

The other ponies in the room looked on in shock, some of them beginning to shout out in protest, as blood began to run down Rarity’s head and neck.
As the spell continued, more blood began to spray and run down rarity’s head. Her screams echoing throughout the room, and she was struggling to stay upright.

Pinkie Pie ran forward, helping Rarity stay upright, as the procedure continued.
After a few minutes that felt like an eternity, Rarity’s horn came loose from her head, and Rarity began to slowly go limp over Pinkie Pie’s back.

Pinkie hugged Rarity tightly, sobbing openly as Rarity passed away in her arms, all life fading from her body in an instant.
But there was no time to pause, as The procedure was only half done.

Luna then used Rarity’s horn and cast a 3rd spell on it, before holding it up to Twilight’s horn. The 2 horns merged together in a bright flash of light, and any and all viscus left in Twilight’s system evaporated, as Twilight's magic returned to its state of energy and magic, instead of a toxic substance.

Soon all sound fades from the room, aside from Pinkie Pie crying, and the music box…
Playing on loop again and again and again….

My Little Diseases - Chapter 4 - the renovations

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The rain pattered against the ground, as many ponies gathered around an open grave, inside was a coffin, containing Rarity’s body… Her noble sacrifice did not go unnoticed, and many ponies gathered around for the funeral.

Everyone was dressed in black, their heads hung toward the ground, in a collective silence as the priest at the front of the crowd said a few prayers, as the coffin was lowered into the ground. Many sobs could be heard, others tried to hold themselves together,it was a very solemn scene…

SweetieBelle stood beside Applejack, along with Apple Bloom, wearing a fully black gown, her ears fully folded back, tears streaming continuously down her face as she openly sobbed as she watched her big sister be lowered into the ground. She was the first of the crowd to walk up, carrying a bouquet of roses with ehr lime green magic, which she slowly lowered on top of the coffin as it was lowered.

Soon the remaining elements of harmony followed, each of them throwing a flower of their own into the grave, along with the cutie mark crusaders and Spike.

The crowd stayed around the grave in a moment of silence as the priest, as well as other staff began filling the hole with dirt, finally burying rarity and leaving her in peace.
Slowly, the crowd began to disperse, each pony slowly going home, all except for Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, who stayed behind after everyone left.

Twilight was dressed in a simple black robe, with a test and black gloves. She had made a full recovery, but the Unseen Blight had definitely taken its toll, and left a few marks behind. Twilight’s magic had remained pitch black, and her horn was completely white, from being replaced by Rarity’s horn.
She tried to keep herself well kept, but her mane was still slightly shaggy and her fur colour has darkened significantly in colour.

Pinkie’s mane was laying flat against her head, it hadnt poofed up since the transplant took place. Her ears folded flat against her head and she couldn't take her eyes off of the gravestone that had rarity’s name and cutie mark chiselled into it.
Pinkie only snapped back to reality, when Twilight opened her wing, using it to shield Pinkie from the rain.
Pinkie was wearing a black dress that flowed slightly behind her, her eyes had large bags under them, as she hadn't been able to sleep since the incident.

The 2 ponies looked at eachother, locking eyes for a moment and looking away after a moment. Ever since Twilight’s confession, they had been on rather awkward terms.
Unsure on where to take things. The silence couldn't have been louder, as the 2 of them tried to find something to say. After what felt like an eternity, Pinkie Pie spoke up.

“We should uh.. Get out of the rain.”
Pinkie said slowly, looking up at Twilight, who nodded in agreement. The two of them finally leave the gravesite, and walk toward Sugarcube Corner. Noone else was on the streets, all of them staying home and paying their respects to Rarity.
Because not only had Ponyville lost a friend, they had lost a neighbour, a sister, an acquaintance… And a hero…

When Twilight and Pinkie entered Sugarcube Corner, the 2 of them sat at one of the tables in the cafe section with a hot drink. They sat there together in silence, before finally, Twilight spoke up, and addressed the elephant in the room.

“Pinkie… About what i said… Before I was cured.”
Twilight started, causing Pinkie to look up from her drink as it swirled in her cup.

“I meant it… All of it. Not only am I proud of you, and the other elements of Harmony for all the adventures and battles we’ve accomplished together.. But I also mean what I said about my feelings for you…”
Twilight rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof, having a bit of trouble finding the words to say next.

Pinkie then reached over the table, putting her hoof on the purple alicorn’s other hoof that remained on the table.

“Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel the same about you..”
Pinkie said, her ears folding back and a small smile playing on her face. Though her mane never poofed back up, remaining flat, hanging to one side of her face.

Twilight couldn't help but smile back in response, both of their cheeks turning slightly red as they stared at each other. Their hooves resting on top of eachother, their eyes never leaving each other's gaze as they didnt say anything, just enjoying eachothers company.

A few hours passed, before Pinkie and Twilight left Sugarcube Corner, and began making their way towardTwilight’s castle, The 2 of them smiling lovingly at each other as they walked.
But, as they walked, Twilight soon broke their gaze to each other, and she looked ahead, her face changing to looking rather deep in thought, causing the 2 of them to stop in their tracks.

“What’s on your mind?”
Pinkie Pie asked, tilting her head at the purple alicorn, gently nudging her side to get her attention.

“I'm just thinking… I've caught this illness.. ‘The Unseen Blight’ Celestia called it… And Cadence caught it too, a long time ago… It's unclear if the Alicorn immune system can tackle this illness if we catch it again, seeing as both of us have now been cured with a horn transplant… I have a lot of science equipment in my castle from previous research. Maybe we can use it, and run some tests, and maybe make a vaccine for the other alicorns out there. Not only would it save other unicorns from passing away from such a procedure. But it could keep us Alicorns safe, especially since Flurry Heart is still young.”

Twilight rambled out loud, mostly to herself, but Pinkie listened intently. Twilight's wings ruffled as she searched her mind for ways to make this vaccination a reality.

“It's not actually a bad idea.”
Pinkie finally said, snapping Twilight out of her train of thought.
“I'm sure we can turn a room in your castle into some kind of research facility for this. It would be a huge achievement if you made this kind of breakthrough.”

Pinkie put her hoof to her chin in thought, before Twilight gasped and smiled wide.
“Pinkie! You’re a genius!! The castle’s jail! It's empty! Any creature that has caused any carnage around here, has been sent straight to tartarus! I don't plan on using it! We can use that as a research facility!”

The 2 ponies smiled wide at each other, before they broke into a full sprint, galloping toward the castle to begin planning the renovations needed, to turn the castle's underground jail into a research facility.

Many blueprints, planning and bought tools were used. Many days were spent transforming half of the jail into a partial lab. They figured they wouldn't need to use the entire room for their testing and so split the room in 2, saving 4 cells, just in case the jail did end up needing to be used for any reason.

Days turned to weeks, as the renovations began, half of the cell doors were destroyed, the cells filled in to make a flat wall, and the wall then plastered, boarded and painted white, making the section look more sanitary and official. They then filled the lab with all the science equipment Twilight had stored in the castle. Ranging from spare test tubes, to microscopes and chemical mixing stations.

After a month of hard work, the lab was finally ready to begin testing. Twilight looked rather proud of her and Pinkie’s work, smiling with and looking over at Pinkie, who was sliding a final set of drawers into place.
“Well. I’d say this is as good as we’re going to get. Pinkie, do you mind grabbing some extra supplies from upstairs? I’ll make sure everything is ok down here before we begin.”
Twilight asked, nuzzling Pinkie’s forehead as she walked past, watching her walk up the stairs.

Her white horn then lit up, the black magic surrounding it. It was still something to get used to. Twilight’s smile slowly faded from her face as she saw the black magic pick up a nearby clipboard that she was using to keep track of everything.

Giving a soft sigh, she also picked up a quill and began walking around the half lab, checking off everything they had. As Twilight was checking everything off, she heard a chuckle echo from the far corner of the jail. Dropping her clipboard in shock, she looked around, the same chuckle echoing throughout the room.

Twilight’s head whipped around as she tried to pinpoint where the laughter was coming from, before she heard a voice chime fron right behind her ear.“You really think you’ll succeed?”
The voice emanated around Twilight’s head… It sounded just like… Rarity?

Twilight turned around fully, going to respond, only for the voice to speak up again.
“I may have given my life to help you… But you’re really wasting your time on such a lost cause.”
Rarity’s voice hissed, sounding angry, and cruel.

“T-that's not true!”
Twilight shouted out into the room, her ears folding back, her wings spread.

“It's completely true darling.”
Rarity’s voice snapped back.
“You’re wasting your time on a vaccination that may never be needed. And you really think this kind of thing is possible to fight off? You nearly died to it, So did cadence… It's only a matter of time before precious little Flurry Heart gets it too!”

“THAT'S NOT TRUE! I CAN STOP THIS!”
Twilight yelled out, only to snap back into reality to see Pinkie standing there, holding a tray of chemical storage jars. Looking rather surprised at the sudden outburst.

“Uh…”
Twilight started, her ears folding back again. Before taking the jars from the pink pony and setting them down on the nearby shelf.

“WHY ME!?”
Luna shouted, standing in front of Celestia in the Canterlot Castle throne room. She was angry at her sister for sending her instead of going by herself to save Twilight.

“Twilight needed you!! And you sent me to save her instead?!”
The moon princess continued to shout at Celestia, her ears folded back and her nose scrunched up. She felt nothing but anger toward her sister. In Luna’s eyes, Twilight needed Celestia in her deepest time of need, and Luna was sent in her place.

“That’s enough Luna….!”
Celestia tried to calmly say, her ears folding back as she tried to calm down her younger sister. But Luna remained persistent, demanding answers.

“Why did you send me to do something you could have easily done!? Why did you send me, to save YOUR student?!”
Luna continued to shout, opening her mouth to ask another question, before Celestia raised her hoof, asking for a turn to speak.

“Listen… dear sister…”
Celestia started.
“I couldn't go… I didn't want to risk catching the Unseen Blight… I need to preserve myself for the future of Equestria.”

Luna’s eyes widened, her ears folding flat against her head, her wings spreading. She raised her voice even more, unintentionally switching to her bellowing princess voice
“So you sent me, to save your student, because you were scared of catching the illness, AND SENT ME KNOWING THE RISKS?! AM I JUST SOME DUD CARD TO YOU?!”

“That's not why I sent you Luna…!”
Celestia tried to reason, but Luna wasn't accepting excuses as an answer

“No!! I know why you sent me! You managed to rule for 1000 years while I was on the moon! You don't need me! And so you send me into the face of danger! TO SAVE YOUR PERFECT WHITE HIDE!”
Luna snapped, the 2 alicorns beginning to butt heads. The 2 of them began to get more angry at each other.

The shouting had prompted 2 guards to come sprinting into the room.
One of Celestia’s guards and one of Luna’s guards.
The 2 guards got between Celestia and Luna, creating a barrier between the 2 alicorns to prevent them from getting any more physical and end up hurting each other.

The guards didn't say anything, instead looking at each other as they guided Celestia and Luna away from one another.
Celestia walked away, staring at the floor as she walked away.
Luna slowly trotted away, tears in her eyes, her blood boiling with anger and hatred.

My Little Diseases - Chapter 5 - so much testing

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2 months have passed… 2 months of testing, stress, struggle, and many failures. But, Twilight finally managed to get the vaccination made for all the alicorns out there, to keep them safe from the Unseen Blight, especially now she had accidentally unearthed its infection.

Twilight’s front legs and flank were now covered in scars, as Twilight needed more and more of her blood to test the vaccination prototypes. Seeing as she was cured through a horn transplant, and not through antibodies. So she was still very susceptible to the infection happening again.

The scars spread down the entire back side of her front legs, some deeper and fresher than others, while some were in the process of healing, but the scars would remain. More scars covered her flanks, causing her cutie mark to warp and become obscured by the amount of slashes that riddled her skin.

Pinkie Pie had stood by the entire time, making sure to patch up the cuts each time a new one was made, and helping Twilight with testing. The pair worked many sleepless nights, trying to make the vaccination for the unseen blight perfect, testing the vaccination on various small animals, monitoring any side effects, and changing the medicine accordingly.

Now the vaccination has been perfected. A white liquid that sat perfectly within a syringe. Twilight administered the vaccination to herself while sending 4 copies of the vaccination to princesses Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Flurry Heart.

“I'm so proud of you Twilight,” Pinkie said softly, nuzzling against the purple alicorn.
“You managed to find a cure for an infection that was buried and hidden away for many moons. With a breakthrough like that, you could find a cure for so many other things!”

Twilight lifted her head in thought, Pinkie had an excellent point. She could find the cure to current infections and illnesses before they became a major problem. Twilight’s white horn lit up, the black magic enveloping a nearby notepad and quill; bringing it closer to her.

She began frantically scribbling notes down and smiling wide.
“What if we start completely from scratch?!” Twilight said excitedly, causing Pinkie to tilt her head in confusion.

“We can create illnesses and see if we can cure them before they become fatal. So if anything similar develops naturally, Ponyville will already have the antibodies for it!”
Twilight hugged Pinkie tightly and kissed her cheek, before galloping across the lab to some small crates where a few bunnies, birds, and ferrets were kept; all in their separate little cages, well-fed and hydrated. Taking out one of the bunnies and looking it over, the purple alicorn then turned to Pinkie again, cradling the bunny in her hoof.
“We can start with this one! We’ll make Ponyville the healthiest town in Equestria!”

“Uh… Twilight I think that’s a step too far. You’ve made amazing things and saved so many lives, you don't need to go this far…Ponyville is healthy enough with all the cures we’ve found. I don't think you need to make illnesses and viruses, just in case they pop up naturally.”
Pinkie said, rubbing the back of her neck, but Twilight raised an eyebrow at her.

“It's better to be safe than sorry Pinkie. Besides, at least we’ll be prepared if we plan! It's all about planning!” Twilight then hurried over to her lab desk, placing the bunny in a glass container, and placed the lid on top; making sure all the air holes were fully open.

“Don't worry Pinkie, if we work together like we have for these last few months, then we’ll be able to have more breakthroughs together. Sure it’ll take a lot more time than the unseen Blight vaccination because we’ll need to MAKE the infection first. But I think we both have the potential to make something amazing!”

Twilight exclaimed, her eyes wide, her smile playing her face with excitement, her wings ruffling at her side. Pinkie couldn't help but chuckle at Twilight’s excitement, it was refreshing to see her smile after all the stress of working on the Unseen Blight.

After finally settling down, Twilight looked at the glass container, holding the rabbit that she grabbed earlier.
“Well… I guess I can't stop you when it comes to these experiments.” Pinkie says. Her ears fold back as she speaks.

Soon enough, the pair started gathering materials from naturally occurring sources. This included plants from the Everfree forest, plants and foliage around Ponyville, and anything else they could find around the edge of town that could cause some kind of illness on its own.

Once their supplies were well stocked, they began working on combining the plants, foliage, and spores together which caused negative effects on their own, and attempted to make their own infections.

After 3 months of consistent research, experimenting, and refilling supplies. They managed to make 3 different infections

As the final, hoof-made infection was injected into an animal test subject, Pinkie left the room to grab more syringes, as well as test tubes to allow more of the infection to grow, while Twilight began monitoring the symptoms of each infection and noting them down, making sure to keep acute detail on everything.

As Twilight wrote these notes, her ear twitched, hearing Rarity’s voice echo in the room again. It began with soft laughter. The occasional whisper, before beginning to speak more clearly, almost as if Rarity was standing right beside her.

“Come now Twilight… Do you really think you can predict the future when it comes to infections? You really think you and Pinkie Pie can prevent your town from getting sick?”
Rarity snarked into the alicorn’s ear. Causing Twilight to flinch away from the voice, her ears folding back as she sharply turned to look at where Rarity’s voice was coming from, her horn lighting up defensively.

Only to be greeted with no sign of anypony in the room. Only for the voice to appear behind Twilight again, continuing from where it left off.

“Sounds like many big promises to yourself… That you’ll never achieve. And what will Pinkie Pie think if you fail? Or the rest of your friends…?”
The voice ended with a soft chuckle as Twilight whipped around, grabbing the nearest object she could in her teeth, which was a thick book.

Without even thinking, she threw it in the direction of the voice, a loud thud echoing through the room as it smacked against the wall.
Twilight snarled and her ears folded back, shouting into the room.

“I CAN, AND WILL SUCCEED!”
Twilight yelled, only for Rarity’s voice to cackle at her remark. Twilight looking around the room again, her wings spreading wide.

“LAUGH ALL YOU WANT! I’LL SHOW YOU THAT I CAN SAVE MY KINGDOM FROM SICKNESS!”
Twilight yelled once more, her voice bouncing off of the walls and causing the animals in containment to cower against the corners of their enclosures.

“Twilight?”
A voice called out from behind her, and Twilight turned around again, looking toward the exit, her horn lighting up, picking up another book.

“WHAT?!”
Twilight shouted, only to be greeted with Pinkie standing there, holding a basket with medical and science supples inside. Her ears folded back, looking a bit nervous.
Twilight’s horn suddenly dimmed, dropping the book as she realised what just happened.

“Oh… Pinkie… Im sorry, im just uh… Getting a bit worried that things wont go well. This is a WHOLE new can of worms we’ve got ourselves involved in. It could spread like wild fire if any of these animals escaped…”
Twilight explained with a sigh.

Pinkie slowly walked into the room, putting the basket down and going to stand beside Twilight, gently nuzzling against her.
“Look… I’m sure this kind of thing is scary. And it isnt too late to back out. At most, we’ll lose a few bunnies. Nothing else. You can go back to being Princess, being Celestia’s student and return to some kind of normal life.”

Twilight paused for a moment, slowly looking around the lab, at the equipment, the bunnies and ferrets they gathered, and the ones that were currently undergoing testing of the 3 infections.
She stood there in silence, her head slowly rotating as she looked around the room, at the cells, the equipment, the mathematics behind it all. Before slowly shaking her head and looking at Pinkie.

“No… We’re too deep into this to back out now. Those 3 bunnies are infected, so we cant release them without causing risk to everypony outside, or the natural wildlife… We need to find a cure for these 3 diseases at least before we can even think about stopping. I have symptoms noted down. But the animals are getting infected too fast. Its only been a few days and I’ve already gone through 6 bunnies.”

As Twilight says this, a Bunny in the clear containers coughs up a black bile and goes limp in the box, catching the attention of the couple as they looked at it for a moment in silence. Before Twilight gave a sigh.
“Make that 7…”

Pinkie put on her gloves and mask before walking over to the box the bunny had just passed away in, and was about to dispose of it, before the door of the castle rattled with knocking.
“That’s odd, are we expecting anyone?”

Twilight asked, to which Pinkie responded by shaking her head.
“You go and answer the door my love, i’ll handle things down here.”

Twilight says quickly before grabbing the dirty syringes she used on the bunnies, with her magic, while Pinkie went upstairs.
As Pinkie approached the door, she lowered her mask and let it rest under her chin, before opening the crystal door, only to be greeted with

“Fluttershy?” Pinkie spoke curiously, tilting her head, her dark ringed eyes locking with the pegasus.
“Is everything alright? We werent expecting you. Did the map call you here?”
Pinkie asked, quickly looking at Fluttershy’s flank to see if her cutiemark was flashing, but the yellow pegasus simply shook her head.

“No no, Im here looking for Angel Bunny, I cant seem to find him, and you know who he likes to run off.”
Fluttershy quickly explains, smiling softly to her pink friend. “Have you seen him?”

Pinkie put a hoof to her chin in thought.
“Hmm… I havent seen him around here, but you’re welcome to come in and see if he’s run in here without us seeing. He is rather slippery after all.”
Pinkie moves aside, allowing Fluttershy into the castle and closing the door…

My Little Diseases - Chapter 6 - the first subject

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Fluttershy was sitting on the sofa of her cottage. Her ears folded back and her head buried in her front hooves. Ever since the funeral, she hasn't been taking things well. Much to her animals and Discord’s concern.

Fluttershy would still try to tend to her daily duties of feeding her animals, cleaning any animals that needed a bath that day, or tending to any injuries her animals had. Once her duties were completed to the best of her current ability, she would spend most of the day either in her room, on the sofa, or in her butterfly garden.
But one day, things were off.

“Discord?”
Fluttershy called out, causing the hybrid to teleport into the living room with her, tilting his head and folding his arms. He was carrying a large amount of bird feed with his tail, and had a basket of fruit in each hand. Which he set down to the side, smiling wide to his pegasus friend.

“Yes, fluttershy? Are we finally going on that tea party you mentioned?”
Discord asked, his little wings flapping excitedly.

“Uh, no not yet, we will a bit later. But have you seen Angel? He hasn't been home all day and I'm worried he may have gotten lost somewhere.”
Fluttershy asked, looking around.
She was rather concerned, but not to the point of panic. Angel knew his way around town with how much he travelled around with Fluttershy.

“Unfortunately not, I haven't seen that little hairball anywhere today. He may have gone to find another rabbit to hang out with or something. I don't know, I don't speak rabbit.”
Discord responded back, rather coldly, but Fluttershy knew it wasn't intentional..

Discord hadn't been in the best of moods recently either. Because Fluttershy has become rather inconsolable after Rarity’s funeral.
This had caused Discord to try and go above and beyond to cheer Fluttershy up, and it didn't always work.
This left Discord feeling like he wasn't doing his job right, at being a good friend.

Fluttershy smiled softly and put a gentle hoof on Discord’s shoulder.
“It's ok. I’ll go and look for him. And when I get back, we can have that tea party like I promised.”

Discord couldn't help but smile back at his pegasus friend and hugged her gently, before opening the door for her. As Fluttershy left, Discord turned to the animals in the cottage, who had gathered around in the living room.
“Alright you lot. Let's get this tea party all set up for Fluttershy’s return!”
Fluttershy began making her way toward town from her cottage, all the while calling out for Angel. Checking in bushes and beside nearby lakes and rivers. When she makes it to town, she checks every little nook and cranny she can find. Alleyways and even open windows of pony’s homes.

She would occasionally, and very awkwardly, stop ponies on her way through town, asking if they had seen Angel come through the area, showing them a photo of him. But all her efforts were fruitless.

This search went on for 3 whole days. All efforts were for naught. She had stayed at Rainbow Dash and Applejack’s houses during her search.
She had searched most of Sweet Apple Acres, with the help of Big Mac, Applejack, and Applebloom. As well as Granny Smith looking through the barn, to see if Angel was hiding in there. But again, their efforts were for nothing.

The very last place for her to check was Twilight’s castle. By this point, Fluttershy had lost all hope of Angel being found unharmed, or even alive. But she still pressed on. She was determined to find her beloved bunny pet

She slowly walked up the steps toward the door and knocked gently.
The knocking resonated on the inside of the castle’s lobby, which could be heard from the outside since Crystals were not one for being soundproof.

After a bit of waiting, Pinkie Pie answered the door, with a confused look on her face.
“Fluttershy?” Pinkie spoke curiously, tilting her head, her dark ringed eyes locking with the yellow pegasus.

“Is everything alright? We weren't expecting you here. Did the map summon you?”
Pinkie asked, quickly looking at Fluttershy’s flank to see if her cutie mark was flashing, but the yellow pegasus simply shook her head.

“No no, I'm here looking for Angel Bunny, I can't seem to find him, I've looked all over town and asked other ponies, but he hasn't been around recently. You know who he likes to run off. Discord hasn't seen him either, and i'm worried the worst may have happened”
Fluttershy quickly explains. “Have you seen him around?”

Pinkie put a hoof to her chin in thought, before shaking her head slowly.
“Hmm… I dont think ive seen him around here, but you’re welcome to come in and see if he’s run in here without us seeing. He is a slippery little guy after all.”
Pinkie responded with a chuckle, she then moved aside, allowing Fluttershy into the castle she then closed the door behind her.

As Fluttershy made her way through the castle, she went through each room, checking every small area the white bunny could have got into. But to no avail. Her ears folded back, her eyes going glossy as her mind began racing with ideas of where her beloved pet may have gone.

As Pinkie watched Fluttershy frantically search for Angel, she put her hoof to her chin in thought once more… Before a sinister grin began to spread across her face.
“Hey Fluttershy, why don't you come to the basement? We have left it open these last few days, maybe he’s down there.”
Pinkie Pie suggested, slowly walking away, waiting for the yellow Pegasus to follow her. And she did.

The pair slowly walked down the stairs that were in the middle of the hallway, walking toward the entrance of the basement. The bright lab lights almost blinded the pegasus as they came into view, causing her to squint.

Soon, Fluttershy’s eyes adjusted to the sudden change of light, and she saw the current state of the lab. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the different animals kept in cages, some of them in glass boxes. Medical supplies were everywhere, and some small bloodstains on the table from previous tests.
It made her blood boil, and she looked at Pinkie with an angry look in her eye.

“Care to explain why all these little creatures are being kept in such small, cramped cages?”
She asked, her tone low, suddenly going cold as she looked at her pink friend.
But Pinkie Pie simply shrugged.

“We haven't had the space for any bigger cages recently, and if we kept them in the cells the basement has down here, they would all escape, because the gaps in the bars are too wide.”
Pinkie kept her explanation blunt and quick, wanting to give Fluttershy a simple answer that would hopefully calm her down, but it didn't work.

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Slowly turning her head, she looked at an experimentation table that sat in the middle of the room, a single lamp shining on what was on top, which was the corpse of Angel Bunny. The snow-white bunny had recently died, with ripped skin, his organs spilled out on the table, his blood darker than normal, and his body covered in dark spots.

Fluttershy let in a sharp gasp, her eyes filling with tears, before suddenly whipping her head around to look at Pinkie, now even more angry.
“You KILLED ANGEL!”
Before Pinkie could respond, Fluttershy tackled Pinkie to the ground. Using her back hooves to keep Pinkie somewhat grounded, before using her front hooves to throw punch after punch. Hitting pinkie in any area that Fluttershy’s eyes laid upon. The room was filled with the sounds of Pinkie grunting, and the impact of Fluttershy’s punches. As Pinkie tried to defend herself, she managed to catch Fluttershy’s front hooves, preventing her from throwing any more punches.

“GET OFF OF ME!”
Pinkie shouted, before shoving Fluttershy off for her, clambering to her hooves, before lunging at her.

The fight continued at the back side of the basement. With Fluttershy gaining the upper hand once more. Managing to get a heavy buck to Pinkie’s side, sending the pink pony flying back.
Pinkie was slammed against one of the doors of the cells, hitting her head, a loud clang echoed throughout the room, causing the animals in the cages to squeak loudly, and start shaking.

Fluttershy looked at Pinkie with an enraged expression, before slowly turning away to free the animals. Only to be greeted with Twilight’s face being inches away from hers.

“Surprise!”
Twilight shouted, before suddenly throwing a punch directly to the side of Fluttershy’s head, sending her flying into the wall of the basement, knocking her out cold.
Twilight then dragged Pinkie’s unconscious body into one of the cells. Once the door was closed shut and locked with a spell, Twilight went to check on Pinkie.

Her head was bleeding from the impact, and some bruises were forming on her body from taking the brunt of Fluttershy’s hits. Twilight gave a soft sigh, and picked up Pinkie with her magic, as well as a first aid kit, and made her way to her quarters.

Laying Pinkie down on her bed, she began cleaning up Pinkie’s injuries and looking for the source of the bleeding. Thankfully the injury wasn't massive, and looked like it didn't need stitches. So she cleaned up the injury as best as she could and wrapped it tightly in a bandage to keep pressure on the injury until the bleeding stopped.

Once Twilight was done, she left Pinkie to get some rest, taking the first aid kit back to the basement. She then saw Fluttershy beginning to stir in the cell, and she couldn't help but feel angry at her. Twilight slowly made her way to the cell, using her magic to pick up a chain, with a large metal cuff on the end. She cuffed the chain around Fluttershy’s back leg, preventing her from getting within arms reach of the door.

Once Fluttershy was fully awake, she looked around in a panic, her ears folded back as her breathing began to quicken. She saw Twilight standing there on the other side of the door, and she took flight, trying to fly at Twilight and hopefully open the door. But the chain was suddenly pulled taut, and yanked the pegasus back, causing her to land in a heap on the ground. With a groan, she sat up, looking at the princess.

“Twilight, what’s going on? Why am i in here?!”
Fluttershy asked, her eyes going glossy as they filled with tears. Fluttershy spread her wings in an attempt to take flight again, only for the cell to suddenly be filled with the sound of 2 loud snaps back to back. Immediately followed by Fluttershy’s screams of agony.

Her ears folding back and her eyes wide as she felt blood trickle down her back. Looking at her wings, she saw that Twilight had snapped the bone cleanly in half, causing the sharp edge to break through the thin layer of skin and muscle.
Blood flowed steadily down her wings and back, as well as down her front legs, staining her bright yellow fur.

Fluttershy’s breathing was rapid, her sobs loud and pained. Her ears folded flat against her head, as she desperately tried to keep her wings still to prevent the pain from getting any worse.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at the yellow pegasus, before using her magic to hold Fluttershy’s wings open, causing her to cry out in agony once more. Twilight racked her brain for an idea, before smirking slowly, and walking toward the pile of leftover supplies they had used to make the lab section of the basement, picking up 2 large planks of wood, and some metal cuffs.

She then holds Fluttershy’s wings as wide open as she can, once again, causing a melody of screams and shrieks to ring out throughout the basement.
Twilight worked slowly, keeping Fluttershy’s wings pinned open with the wooden boards, roughly putting the metal cuffs around her wings, and inadvertently cutting some of her feathers.

Once she was done, Fluttershy couldn't move her wings at all, as they were weighed down by the wood, her face now soaked in tears, her sore eyes looking at Twilight.
Before Fluttershy could talk, she let out a yelp as a new spot of pain shot through her, as Twilight injected Fluttershy with one of her hoof-made infections, which she has named ‘Flightless Bird Syndrome’

Twilight made a few quick notes, noting down Fluttershy’s current condition.
“Fluttershy: Subject I.

Healthy
Infection rate: 0%
Symptoms: None

‘Fluttershy has decided to generously volunteer herself for the infection ‘flightless bird syndrome’ while she’s here. I will monitor her condition, its progress, and the progression on making a cure in time before the infection becomes fatal.”

Twilight then put her notes on a clipboard, hanging it up by the cell door with a small hook, before beginning to walk away.

“Now... Was that necessary? She was only trying to find her pet. I feel like she has a right to be angry here.”
Rarity’s voice echoed out into Twilight’s ear, causing it to twitch. As the alicorn walked away, she looked over her shoulder at Fluttershy, who was now cowering in the corner of her cell.

“I did what was needed. Word can't get out about how these vaccinations are being made. And now we have a bigger subject that will give us more time to work on a cure before it kills her.”
Twilight responds coldly, and Rarity's voice responds with a confused tone.
“A cure to an infection YOU made. And what about the last 2? You barely know what they do, let alone if they’ll be able to be cured!”

Twilight then snapped back, her ears folding back.
“I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!”
Her voice echoes out into the lab before she storms out, going to keep an eye on Pinkie’s condition.

About a week later, newspapers were being passed around Ponyville. The top story: “Fluttershy, Elements of Kindness, mauled by her animals.”
The story explains that Fluttershy was working like usual in her sanctuary, and had neglected to feed her bears, which resulted in them turning on the yellow pegasus, and mauling her to death. The photo accompanied by the story, was a shot of a patch of grass, with some discarded feathers, explaining that they matched Fluttershy’s.

Discord slammed the newspaper down, letting out a loud wail of despair, before opening a portal to his pocket dimension and slipping inside. Leaving nothing but the newspaper behind.

The town held a funeral for Fluttershy a few days later, the remaining elements of harmony attending. Including Pinkie and Twilight. Pinkie wearing a hat to hide her head injury.
They stood there in silence. As they looked at the photo of the element of kindness, lit by a single candle.