Chapter 3: Friends

The six ponies met at Twilight’s house after cleaning up the mess from the party. Twilight was racked with nervousness, she wasn’t sure how she was going to explain any of this to her friends. But it was her duty to do so.

All the ponies went inside and shut the door behind them. They gathered into a circle in the middle of the library.
Twilight sighed. “This isn’t going to be easy. But I trust each of you, and before I explain what is going on, I have to have your promises that this information does not leave this room.”

All of them chimed in with “We promise” and nodded for her to continue.

Taking in a big breath, Twilight began. “Tonight, Princess Celestia told me that there’s been an outbreak of a mysterious disease in Manehatten and it seems to be incurable at the moment. Nopony knows what it is or what is causing it. But the ponies are running fevers and acting…strange.”

“What kinda strange, Twilight. Tell us, we can take it.” Applejack piped up, noticing Twilight’s reluctance to carry on with the story.

“Well. Ponies are beginning to…well…eat each other.”

“Like z-zombies?!!!” Spike yelled.

“Zombies?!!!!” Pinkie echoed him.

“SHHHH!!! Quiet!! Nopony must know!” Twilight hushed them.

“So, what are we gonna do about it?” AJ asked.

Twilight gulped. “I don’t know yet, the princess said the elements may help but I have to study up on it first. She is going to try to get as much info as she can, but nopony is able to go to Manehatten in the state it is in.”

“That’s creepy.” Fluttershy said.

“What is the disease spreads over here?” Rarity asked.

“We’ll just fight it!” Rainbow Dash said, kicking the air.

“How do you fight something like that. No one even knows what it is.” Twilight said
.
“Well, we need to go get the elements.” Applejack spoke up again.

“I’ll have to speak to the princess again. I’ll ask about them and what our next step should be. But first, I need to start studying this thing.” Twilight said.

“Do you need us to stay here tonight?” Rarity asked, worried about Twilight.

Twilight shook her head. “That’s sweet of you, but I’ll be fine. I need to be alone so I can study effectively. You girls just go home and get some rest, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Each pony said their goodbyes and left the house. As soon as the last one left, Twilight shut the door and locked it. She turned around, sighed with her back against the door and slid down to a sitting position.

“I don’t know what to do.” She spoke softly.

“What books are we going to need for this?” Spike asked, eager to help. Even though he would usually be in bed by now, he was worried for Twilight.

“First off, we need to look into the history of diseases that match these symptoms. We have got to see if ponies have encountered something like this before. Then we need to look up cures for the symptoms, maybe some kind of brew can be mixed, I will speak to Zecora tomorrow and see if she has any idea. Also, maybe there is a magical cure of some kind, or maybe a spell…oh I don’t know.” Twilight placed her face in her hooves for a moment, her head was spinning, but she knew she had to get up and get to work. The disease was spreading, and something had to be done before it was too late.

She lifted herself off the floor and began pulling books from the shelves. With Spike’s help, she began her long night of research.