"The risk of an outbreak was always a possibility...we knew this. We begged Princess Celestia to stop.

We told her that the consequences of her actions would catch up to her in the end...but she didn't believe us.

I just want to see the look on her face when her own project backfires on her...

Then we'll see who gets the last laugh..."

-Captain Shadow-Mane of The Lunar Guard

One quiet hoofstep after another...just one after the other. Twilight Sparkle's hooves made a soft thudding sound as she pressed herself forward, her legs carrying her towards the Everfree Forest and the moon beginning to rise overhead. Usually she would have been terrified to be outside...all alone and against The Afflicted. But there were no afflicted anymore...at least not around here. She was safe, protected against the diseased invaders within the shield...and with that knowledge, there was nothing from stopping her full out attack on Celestia. Well...there was one thing...

Answers...

She wanted answers more then she wanted Celestia's head on a pike, which at the current moment, was saying something. A look of fury but concentrated determination rested on her face, her eyes narrowed and scanning the edge of the trees carefully. Somewhere...in there...was an alicorn who needed (very badly) to die. But that very thought whittled at Twilight's morale the closer she got to the trees.

Just...how exactly was she supposed to challenge, fight, and kill the most powerful creature in the world? How in the hell was she supposed to kill Princess Celestia!? Not my regular, conventional means, she knew that. Daggers and swords weren't going to touch Celestia. No...it had to be by magic. Then again, challenging a Goddess who's magic has the ability to raise both the sun AND the moon seemed like suicide. "I have to try regardless..." Twilight growled quietly, the trees coming up quickly "If nopony takes a stand...nopony ever will."

She stopped at the edge to the Everfree Forest, peering inside its dark labyrinth of trees and igniting her horn like a flashlight, casting light into the blackness of the forest. She grimaced as she scanned the brush and realized that she really didn't have a direction to go on. The bunker wouldn't have been just laying out for anypony to find. Harboring a weapon like the virus...it'd have to be tucked well away from prying eyes to avoid incident or discovery. "But how did it get out...?" Twilight whispered, taking a few careful hoofsteps into the trees "If I was really there...what happened to unleash the virus?"

She stopped suddenly as an idea rang out in her head. "Of course! My memories!" Twilight gasped, the realization of it all passing over her "I can use my memories to find the bunker! If I was there, I should be able to remember where the entrance is!" She closed her eyes, sitting back on her haunches and trying her best to reach back into her mind. She thought back to as far as she could remember...the beginning of the week which would end in their picnic...the week before the incident. The Library...she was there...but...the more she looked over it, the same memories kept displaying themselves. She had spent the whole week in the Library, just as she had remembered...what then...what was it that had made her forget? If Shadow-Mane and Applejack were right...then Twilight was in Canterlot, with Princess Celestia before the incident.

"I was there..." Twilight growled, clenching her teeth as well as her eyes. "I know I was there...I saw the bunker entrance...I felt the rain outside, I felt..."

Sick...

Twilight opened her eyes slowly, a frown forming on her face as she whispered "I felt...sick. It was a tingling sick...something I know I've felt before. It was...it...was....wait!" She furrowed her brow, pushing a hoof to her head as she went on "Magic Kindergarden...before Moondancer was my friend...she...she and I got into a fight. She...she shot me with a spell and...."

She gasped. "Magic...they erased my memories and replaced them with magic!" She smiled, a triumphant smile on her face "Unicorn's get sick sometimes when they're hit with specific or different combinations of spells...which means someone used magic on me! They tried to make me forget...but my mind resisted. You can't just simply use magic against the Element of Magic itself, and that's why it didn't work, that's why I can still see visions of my past!" She nodded, going once again into deep thought. Perhaps if magic erased her memories...maybe she could use magic to 'unerase' them. "Worth a shot..." she muttered "Oh but the spell...what combination would it have to be?" She had never worked with memory spells before, but she had studied them in great detail...mostly because she never had any kind of use for them, but found them interesting. She thought back to her studying, going over the patterns of the spell in her mind and waving a hoof in the air quietly as she did the calculations.

After around twenty minutes, Twilight nodded. "Here goes..." she whimpered, igniting her horn with magic and concentration hard on the Reverse-Memory spell. She furrowed her brow and clenched her teeth, straining as the magic sapped at her energy. It was a bigger spell then she had realized...and she hoped it wouldn't sap too much. She needed to be strong to fight Celestia, after all.

The spell launched itself from Twilight's horn, firing outwards and turning sharply to come flying back. She gasped as the spell rushed towards her face, and in an instant...

The world went white.

Twilight groaned, sitting up and looking around. Her surroundings had changed...and she was now on a train. She was resting in a small bunk, the train clattering loudly underneath her. "It must have worked...or did something. I don't know what's going on..." she whispered to herself, slipping out of the bed and into the aisle. As soon as her hoof hit the carpeted floor however, the door at the very end of the car opened...and a feeling of rage shook her to the bone.

Princess Celestia walked through the door, a smile on her face as she spoke "Ah, you are awake my faithful student. I trust you slept well?"

Twilight tried her best to keep her anger under control as she realized that she must have traveled back into her own memories...not exactly the effect she wanted but it would do. "I'm...yes, I slept very well indeed!" Twilight chuckled, sporting her best smile.

"Good, we'll be arriving at the facility soon. I trust you understand what we talked about earlier?" Celestia inquired, her mane flowing with ethereal magic as she walked.

Twilight gulped as she approached, looking into the beautiful, mesmerizing eyes of the Princess. "Um...could you refresh my memory?" Twilight asked, a bashful grin on her face "That sleep really did a doozy on my brain...been stressed lately, as you know."

Celestia chuckled and waved her hoof casually in front of her as if to dismiss a thought "I was asking you to keep what we're going to do secret...it's essential to the future of Equestria that what we're about to witness remains a secret between you and I."

Twilight frowned for a moment, brow furrowing for a moment before she whispered "Of course Princess...something like this HAS to be kept secret, you know?"

Celestia nodded, taking a sad glance outside and speaking "I can't thank you enough Twilight...volunteering to read over my scientist's notes. They say that they have all the variables figured out but...it always pays to have a second opinion."

Twilight tried not to become sympathetic...tried not to give in to Celestia's false caring. Celestia betrayed her...abandoned her...she didn't care about her opinion, she never did! "When will we be arriving?" Twilight asked, looking out the window.

"Now...actually," Celestia muttered, her horn gleaming with yellowish magic. Before Twilight could speak, a yellowish aura surrounded them both and in an instant the scenery changed. Heat simmered against Twilight's skin as she blinked, her body shaking from the sudden teleportation spell she was hit with. Celestia cleared her throat next her, and inclined her head towards the concrete entrance to the bunker that Twilight recognized from her visions. It was concealed well enough, but Twilight was sure that with enough landmarks she'd be able to pinpoint the entrance. She looked around quickly, taking in as much of the scenery as she could. Trees, rocks, a river nearby, she had to remember as much as she could! "Coming...dear?" Celestia cooed, a definite edge to her voice.

"Of course...Princess...by what did we leave the train?" Twilight said back with equal care, watching as Celestia opened the doors with her magic.

"It's a cover..." Celestia explained "so that no one can track us here..."

Twilight nodded and walked forward towards the pitch-black entrance of the bunker. As she took her first hoof step in, however, she suddenly felt hooves wrap around her and a cloth being pushed up against her nose and mouth. She let out a squeak and began to struggle, growling as Celestia whispered "It's ok....it's ok....sleep Twilight....go to sleep...."

"Sleeeeep...."

Twilight gasped yet again, sitting up in the Everfree Forest and looking around. She was back in reality, her heart thudding and her mind going a mile a minute. "Oh sweet Luna...she ambushed me." Twilight whimpered "She actually...what did she...what happened?!" She walked over towards a tree, pushing her back up against it and staring down at her front hooves. She muttered quietly to herself as she tried to form some kind of answer "I...I didn't intentionally help out this project, or whatever it is. I was right, I'd NEVER aid something like this! Celestia knocked me out...but what happened after that? Did...did she take me prisoner or...what?"

She sighed, going over the images of the scenery she kept in her brain. "I should be able to find the entrance with this much...I have to." She got to her hooves, immediately setting off into the deeper part of the woods. The forest was filled with the noises of life, squawking, chittering, the distant howling of wolves. It was a lot more noise then to what Twilight was used to...she was used to keeping quiet for days at a time.

For hours she walked through the dense brush of the Everfree Forest, her eyes always on the constant search for any of the landmarks she recognized from the bunker. At long last, just as she was about to give up for the night and sleep up in a tree when she heard it...the sound of rushing water. "The river..." Twilight whispered, remembering that there had been a river near the bunker.

She took off, running towards the sound of the water and hoping that it was the correct river. She bounded over logs and weaved through several trees until the river revealed itself to her, its water rushing by at a fast speed. She looked around cautiously, shining her light in every direction. The area was beginning to look familiar...which meant she was very close. She walked along the bank of the river, turning her head this way and that to shine her light along the forest. She was sure she was close...and when the glint of metal caught on her light, she confirmed it.

She found the bunker.

The doors were still open, and vines covered most of the concrete. Some lights flickered within and from Twilight was standing, all she could see was a small metal platform and a console with one button on it. She took in a deep breath, doing her best to try and keep her heart rate steady. "Come on Twilight..." she whispered "For Equestria..." She carefully made her way in, her hooves thudding loudly against the metal of the platform as she stepped up onto it. Turning around to face the entrance, she hit the button and jumped slightly as a deep metallic groan echoed through the walls. The platform shifted suddenly, and started to lower itself at a slow speed.

Twilight sighed, sitting on her haunches as the platform picked up speed, heading down at a steady rate. She was scared...she admitted it. She didn't know what she was going to find down there...she wasn't sure she even wanted to anymore. Was this worth it...? Was killing Celestia and discovering the truth behind the virus...the part she played in this whole mess...was it all worth it? She could have been in Canterlot by now, reporting to Luna about her research of The Afflicted...or signing adoption papers for Catie...or snuggling up to a warm, sleeping Big Macintosh and dreaming of a bright future with him.

But no...she chose to venture down a deep, dark shithole by riding a rickety old platform-elevator where the truth and Celestia were supposedly hiding. She looked upwards, seeing nothing but a black abyss and sighing. The door to safety was shut...there was no turning back now.

After a minute or so, the platform came to a grinding halt, settling down, the destination making Twilight's eyes grow wide. A MASSIVE room opened up before her, completly littered with lab equipment and tables and was extremely well lit as well. All around, chalkboards and paper and test tubes were set up and absolutely scrawled with notes. In addition to that...Twilight also noticed large amounts of blood were splattered about. Dried pools were splotched on the floors in a few places, along with nasty looking sprays about the wall. She had to put a hoof over her mouth and groan as she spotted a mostly decomposed body of a pony strewn out over a table.

She looked around, noticing that the room was two stories tall, with the outer edge of the first floor being lined with doors, mimicking the second floor. The rooms were all labeled with scientific titles like "Lead Genetics" or "Bio-hazard Advisory Board Member". What caught Twilight's eyes however...was a single door at the very end of the lab, a door that for some reason felt...different...then the others. It was like she was being drawn towards it...an aura of mystery and power emanating from it.

She quickly trotted between the tables, being careful to not step or touch any of the blood (as it could very well have been Afflicted...) and made her way towards the door. She looked towards the plaque that rested on the wall to the left of the door, reading it carefully.

"Ravage..." Twilight whispered. "It's called....Ravage." She put a hoof on the door and took in a breath. Behind this door...could be the single most horrifying thing in existence. Behind this door...could be the truth. Was she ready? Would she be able to handle whatever she would find? What if she couldn't...what would happen to her?

"I have not...come this far...to stop now," Twilight growled, putting both her front hooves on the door and shoving it open. The smell of rot and decay immediately smacked Twilight in the face, causing her to recoil in shock and cough. She retched for a moment, her stomach heaving and trying desperately hard to eject the apples she had eaten earlier out of her stomach. She held firm however, lifting her head back up and lighting her horn with magic. A lavender colored cloth materialized out of thin air, floating downwards and wrapping itself around Twilight's muzzle, covering her nose but still allowing her to breathe. She unlit her horn and made sure the cloth was snug before she cautiously made her way inside. It was a large sort of office, books and papers littering the floor, along with several black tapes that appeared to be either broken or burned. Another notable addition to the room was that the entire back wall...was a window. What lay beyond it was something Twilight could not see, as blackness met her gaze.

As she turned her head, she grimaced, spotting the office desk that rested near the right wall. Sitting in the desk...was the skeleton of a large stallion, a white lab coat splotched with blood resting over him. The name plate on his desk read 'Doctor P. Gen', and just like the rest of the room, the entire desk was in disarray. One thing Twilight DID notice however...was that the 'late' doctor had his hoof settled over a sort of black remote, fitted with one single button. The unicorn sucked in a breath and carefully made her way over towards the desk, letting out a low whine as she reached out towards the skeletal hoof.

With a quick flick of her hoof, she knocked the remote out from under the skeleton's grip and slid it across the desk. Twilight quickly moved over, peering closely at the remote for a moment before pressing the red button. She jumped slightly as the whir of machinery echoed out from above her, a projector, one that she hadn't noticed before attached to the ceiling, clicking on. The picture was slightly fuzzy at first, but it auto-focused soon enough. A single screen was displayed, one of a tan-like color. The words 'Please Insert Tape' were written across its surface, causing Twilight to look around. She didn't have to look long, as her eyes caught sight of a medium sized black rectangle attached to the wall, along with a filing cabinet next to it that was labeled 'Tape Storage' along its front.

She opened the top drawer of the cabinet with her magic, peering inside. Four tapes were inside, with only one looking like it was in working condition. The other three looked as if they had been melted. Melted on purpose, more like to Twilight. If Celestia wanted to cover her tracks...any evidence or recordings would need to be destroyed. "Looks like she missed one..." Twilight whispered, pulling the tape out with her magic and turning it slowly in the air. The tape was labeled with 'Ravage Virus - Final Experiment - Subject #223'.

Twilight narrowed her eyes, staring over towards the black rectangle on the wall. It had two buttons, a green and a red, and with a quick push of her hooves against the green button, the side opened up and displayed a slot big enough to fit the tape into. She slid the tape in with magic, closing the panel with the push of the red button and taking a few steps backwards. The machine and projector whirred slightly for a second before a voice began speaking from the speakers. The picture on the screen started to change, and Twilight, her curiosity fully peaked, sat down on her haunches to watch.

~*~

Doctor Patho Gen muttered, his mane bouncing slightly as he pushed the 'Rec.' button on the side of the camera facing the window. He stood in front of the camera and sighed, pushing his glasses up against his face and speaking in a very bored tone "This is test number forty three...subject #223. All other previous tests have failed, of course...we still have yet to narrow down the gene sequencing and bio-genetics required for a perfect sort of...host. However...we believe that Unicorn-Class ponies may have a better chance...depending on their current level of magic potential and energy. Princess Celestia here...despite her refusal to believe it...is getting desperate."

"Watch yourself Patho..." Celestia growled "You have no idea what it took for me to do this!"

Patho looked towards a spot off camera and sighed, shaking his head "I know it took quite a lack of brains and sanity. Do you have any idea what you're about to do here Celestia?! Have you even the SLIGHTEST bit of sanity left?! The war is not worth this!"

Patho seemed to grimace as Celestia spoke, her words pained and dripping with guilt. "The war was always at the very front of our minds...how could we just ignore it? I regret many things in the thousands of years I have been in existence...but I regret this most of all. It wasn't enough that we had to wage war with the Gryphons...even though they attacked us first. No...what I regret is the fact that I agreed to this project...I shouldn't have volunteered this particular subject...

Oh Gods and Goddesses above what have I done?"

Patho sighed, looking towards Celestia with a face of pleading "Princess...please...we don't have to do this. We can find another Unicorn, one that's not...you know!"

"But it's as close as we could have ever gotten to a perfect cure!" Celestia whined, her voice changing from guilt to determination...even aggression. "No...we proceed Doctor Gen, begin the test!"

The doctor frowned, bowing his head for a moment before looking at the camera and speaking "May the Gods and Goddesses above forgive me for what I have done...and what I will do now. Subject #223 is ready for the test, bring her in!"

The doctor stepped out of the way, the camera now showing the window that covered the far wall. Lights blasted on from within, revealing the room to be a sort of...observation room. A single metallic table rested in the center with clamps and restraints littered on top of it. All around, several roll-able tables surrounded the middle one, each one adorned with several different medical instruments. What was most discernible, however...was a small vial of red liquid which was locked tight inside a metal sort of box, the vial visible through a small window of glass on its side. The box was labeled 'Ravage - 001'

The door that led into the medical room opened, revealing two Royal Guard who carried in...an unconscious Twilight Sparkle.

"No..." Twilight whispered, her hooves flying up to her mouth "Oh no...oh no please!" She whimpered as her eyes remained glued to the screen...her fate approaching quickly.

"Subject has been sedated, but should be recovering now. She will remain in such a state until the test begins, at which that time we will be able to gather more reliable results." Patho explained, watching as the guards strapped Twilight down to the table and left. After the guards left, a group of four ponies wearing haz-mat suits moved in, circling Twilight and preparing for the experiment to begin. "Ravage Virus is ready, as it our subject...begin the test."

Twilight stared in horror, tears spilling from her eyes as she watched the haz-mat ponies remove the vial from its locked box, using magic to levitate a syringe towards the top. The syringe extracted a decent amount of the virus...which Twilight could only assume was blood...and watched...crying out in terror...as they slipped the needle into her front right leg.

"Subject has been administered with the 'Ravage Virus'...we will now begin close monitoring." The Twilight on the screen stayed motionless for a moment...and then slowly opened her eyes. Her breathing was starting to increase...becoming more labored. Drool leaked out of the corner of her mouth, and her eyes looked around frantically in every direction. "Subject's saliva glands are becoming highly active, and she appears to be disoriented. First stages of the infection are complete, subject is confirmed to be infected."

"I was...I....they...I was..." Twilight stuttered with a whine, her body shaking as she continued to watch herself turn...turn into the very monsters she hid from for two months.

"Subject appears to be reacting...breath is raspy, eyes are slowly changing. It appears to be another dud Celestia...I hope you're happy. Another failed subject, and it was the Element of fucking MAGIC too! Oh may the heavens forgive us for this d-.....wait." Patho peered closely at the window, watching in curiosity as the scene before him slowly unfolded.

The Twilight on the screen...her eyes were changing, but not as a regular Afflicted's would. The whites of Twilight's eyes slowly began to swim with the color of blood...but the purple...the purple of her eyes gleamed brightly, as if they were their own source of light. Her breath quieted slightly, and her body had stopped fidgeting. "What...the hell?" Patho whispered, watching the unicorn closely.

Nopony moved...nopony breathed...and then...Twilight spoke...

"M...Mommy...?"

"Oh...my sweet stars..." Patho gasped, a choking sob echoing from somewhere behind him, presumably Celestia's. "Subject is confirmed to be infected with 'Ravage Virus'....but...she's also immune to its effects. Subject #223, Twilight Sparkle...she's a carrier. We did it! SHE'S A CARRIER!" The science team cheered as Twilight whined, her whimpers growing into words...

"Where...am I...? Let me go...let me out of here!!" She started to struggle, the clasps and binds rattling as she squirmed.

"Hey...sedate her!" Patho shouted "Knock her out! If she bleeds from those binds we'll have to sanitize the entire room!"

"LET ME GO!!! LET, ME, GO!!!!" Twilight roared, flailing about as her purple and blood colored eyes flashed...along with her horn. She reached out to anything and everything near by, the equipment and the tools. She flung them about, creating a sort of pushing shockwave outwards which knocked the science team back.

"Sedate her! NOW!!!!!" Patho shrieked, not even bothering to notice the syringe that had lodged itself in the side of one of the haz-mat ponies...

"Sir! We've got a situat- OH CELESTIA HELP ME!!!"

"GET HIM OFF, GET HIM OFF OF - AARRRGH!!!"

"Guards, secure the door, secure the door!!!"

"IT GOT OUT INTO THE HALLWAY! HIT THE ALARM, HIT THE ALARM!!!!"

Twilight wept loudly, blood and carnage spilling about all around her. The camera continued to focus on her, focus on the unicorn who yelped in fright when the newly born Afflicted fought and infected their way out into the main hall...causing what could only be the beginning of the incident. Suddenly, Doctor Patho himself ran into the room, his horn aglow with white magic. "FORGET!" he spat, swinging his horn and clobbering Twilight upside the head with a spell...a spell to wipe her memories. He looked up towards the camera and panted, tears in his eyes as he shouted "The 'Ravage Virus' has been set loose! The Carrier must be evacuated, at whatever the cost! She is our cure! She is our cure!!!!!"

And then...the screen went black...and the tape ended.

Twilight stared towards the black screen, stared with a look of horror that could not be described by anypony or any word in existence. Tears were streaming down her face, a pure wave of denial crashing inside her like a hornet's nest. She...she was Afflicted...at one point she was Afflicted. She had been infected with 'Ravage'...she was a carrier.

The pieces fell into place quickly as Twilight stared at the screen in a terrified panic

The answers to where the virus originated from...and who spread it.

The source of the misery which made up the last two months.

A Revelation.

And then...a voice...from the room where Twilight was infected...spoke out.

"You really are...a wonderful girl, Twilight Sparkle...did you know...how special you were? From the time you were just a little filly...I knew that a bright future was coming for you...but now...now look what you've done...you've beaten the 'Ravage'...you helped me discover why the virus was drained from your body...how you killed it. And now...I can set things right."

Twilight could not do...could not say anything at this moment...say nothing except one word...one single word...a name.