"Dark....I remember it was very dark when I opened my eyes. It was as if somepony had pulled a veil of deep red across my vision, blinding me with the colors of blood and roses. I remember...that it was very cold, despite the fact that the world around me seemed to be on fire. It took me a moment to gather my senses...but besides that...all I could think about was how much pain I was in...and how I felt much more powerful than I could have ever imagined in my entire life."

Twilight groaned as she opened her eyes, staring towards the sky as her breath came hissing through her lungs in an agonizing wheeze. She was startled to find that her insides no longer burned as if they were on fire, the feeling of heat now becoming the polar opposite and making her body feel like it was covered in ice. She shivered as she stared up towards the sky, a tinge of red blending into her vision as she let out a weak cough and whimpered "Momma...?"

Only the wind answered her as she continued to stare up at the sky, watching as several Pegasus ponies swarmed out overhead, fleeing through the falling shards of gold that once made up the shield surrounding Ponyville. "Oh no, the barrier!" Twilight gasped as she finally noticed the pieces of the cage that had been the tool of her agonizing imprisonment for two long, painful months.

Memories began to flood back to her as she remembered those months...those painful days of sitting on her rear, reading and re-reading every book in the library, gorging herself on apples, and dumping buckets upon buckets of her feces and urine out of the second story window. More importantly...she remembered Captain Shadow-Mane, the escape to Sweet Apple Acres, Big Macintosh, and....Celestia!

"CELESTIA!" Twilight howled, sitting upright quickly and turning her head in every direction. She was sitting next to what she knew was the exit to the escape tunnel that led back towards Town Hall, but all that could be seen inside was the faint glow of red and orange flickering in its depths. With a slow look upwards, Twilight let out a shuddering gasp and beheld her once beloved home...cast in a fiery blaze. Ponyville...was on fire. Houses and shops crumbled and exploded with fire and ash as billowing black smoke was belched from the inferno. In the distance...the now weeping mare could just see the top layers of her library going up in flames.

"So...it's done." she sighed, getting to her hooves slowly and wincing as her body shook with pain. She had only just gotten out of the battle with Celestia, and the end result couldn't have been better. She de-horned Celestia! The Princess was weak and defenseless, making her easily disposed of so that Equestria could finally be rid of and safe from a terrible monster. "Now..." Twilight muttered, looking out amongst the fields and narrowing her eyes slightly "Where...are you?"

She scanned over the tall grass as it waved about in the wind, the smell of smoke and fire choking the air. She started to get a bit worried as she looked across the wide expanse of land, her left eye twitching as she saw no sign of the white Princess. Where could she have gone? Surely she didn't escape!? The Lunar Guard had to have been around to set Ponyville ablaze...they had to have the battle between her and Celestia at some point! Twilight continued to look across the fields...but unfortunately...Celestia was nowhere to be found.

"DAMN IT ALL!" Shrieked the furious mare, her horn suddenly flashing with bright red magic and illuminating an apple tree towards her right. The Tree shook violently for a second before imploding in on itself, exploding outwards an instant later and sending splinters of wood and apples in every direction. The unicorn jumped in surprise at the sudden detonation, turning her head towards the smoldering pile of wood. "Did...I do that?" she whispered in awe, noting just how little magic she used to destroy the tree.

She turned her body towards the rest of the trees, illuminating her horn and reaching out towards another tree nearby. Her magic quickly surrounded the tree, ripping it completely free of the ground with the gentlest tug of force. "By Celestia's mane..." Twilight whispered in wonder "What's...happened to me?" She let the tree drop to the ground with a loud 'crash', conjuring a mirror out of thin air next with a simple spell. She hovered the mirror closer to her...what she saw, making her heart race and her lungs to expel a wheezing gasp.

Her eyes...the whites of her eyes were the color of blood, the purple of her irises remaining. Her body was scarred slightly and she was bleeding in a few places...but her eyes are what stood out the most. "I'm....I'm....!" Twilight stuttered, her body starting to shake and her legs beginning to wobble. "I....I'm...!!!"

"Afflicted, yes." finished a voice from above, causing Twilight to jump and look up towards the top of Applejack's barn. A mare was standing on top of the room, a brown cloak covering her body as well as several wrappings over legs. A mask hung limply via a string around her neck, and her hood had been pulled back to reveal a silvery mane...a coat of blue...and eyes of violet and blood red color. She was a unicorn...a unicorn Twilight had come to unfortunately know as 'The Great and Powerful-'

"Trixie..." Twilight growled, staring up at the mare with a look of loathing in her eyes "What are you doing here? Come to gloat and taunt me some more? Come to say Ponyville has gotten what it's deserved? Go on, say it!"

Trixie seemed stared at Twilight with a raised eyebrow, letting the lavender mare finish her rant before letting out a light chuckle and shaking her head. "Silly girl..." she muttered, the whites of her eyes gleaming with a bloody color "What makes you think I care about Ponyville? It's been scratched off the list...leaving the other cities to be next in line!"

Twilight gasped as she beheld the redness in Trixie's eyes, indicating that she was a Carrier like her. "How...how did YOU of all ponies become infected? The Ravage was contained inside the barrier of Ponyville, and I know you weren't inside the town when the outbreak hit!"

At this, Trixie merely laughed and took a stunning leap off the barn, doing a quick front flip before landing in front of Twilight. The mare took a step backwards out of instinct as Trixie flashed her a sinister smile, hissing quietly "Do you really think a thing like this could be cooped in just one location? There's other places in Equestria that contained Ravage...bunkers...facilities...Canterlot itself. Do you really think that the Everfree Center was the only original outbreak point? Get with the program Twilight Sparkle...this thing is bigger than you know."

Twilight simply blinked as Trixie walked past her, running her tail under her chin and giving it a snap across her cheek. "As for me..." whispered the blue mare "Ravage came to me...oh, let's say...from the stars themselves." Twilight rubbed at her stinging cheek, grimacing towards Trixie as the mare let out a hearty chuckle and stare off across the plains. "Quite a thing to see as I passed on by Twilight Sparkle!" exclaimed Trixie, a tone of over-dramatization in her voice "Flying on by with magical wings...watching as The Lunar Guard rescued Princess Celestia...and left you here to burn with Ponyville!"

"WHAT!?" Twilight shouted, rounding on Trixie who merely smiled, her back turned on the lavender mare "The Lunar Guard wouldn't do that! They had strict orders to rescue me and the other Elements of Harmony!"

"Rescue the UNINFECTED ones...maybe," Trixie hissed, looking behind her with a triumphant grin on her face "You're lost Twilight...infected, Ravaged...useless. You're just another statistic in a war against disease." Twilight looked down slightly as Trixie's words sunk in, her ears drooping as the mare went on "Look at your eyes Sparkle...look at the red that screams 'Diseased!' to anypony unfortunate enough to be around. They take one look at you and either run or try to kill you. Do you really think your friends...Luna...even Macintosh are going to want you around with...what you are?"

"B...but..." Twilight whimpered, looking up with tears in her eyes "They're...they're my friends! They'll stick by me no matter what!"

Trixie let out a scoff of disgust and turned, rounding on Twilight Sparkle and shouting "They stuck by what you WERE, not what you are now! It's because of Afflicted like you and I that Equestria has come to fear and hate us! Think about it, you've been stuck inside Ponyville for two months, what was your general opinion of The Afflicted?"

Twilight frowned, looking towards the ground as the memories resurfaced in her head. After a few moments, the lavender mare finally whispered "I felt...angry. I felt upset...I wanted to kill them all and just make things normal again."

"Uh huh...exactly!" Trixie said with a big smile "You see? They think by killing you and me that things will just go back to normal...but they won't! They NEED us Twilight, they need us to nip the problem in the bud!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, muttering the question of "What exactly is the problem then?"

Trixie simply smiling, pointing a hoof outwards towards the direction of Canterlot and hissing "Why...Princess Celestia of course!"

Twilight growled as Trixie uttered that name...her blood feeling as if it was boiling with fire. "Yes...the Princess that The Lunar Guard rescued and ferried back to Canterlot." Trixie said, a small frown on her face "The Princess who they're going to help recover I presume...cast another shield over Canterlot and protect their little lady while the rest of Equestria burns with the freshly released Ravage from Ponyville. Sad thing...isn't it?" Twilight bit her bottom lip as Trixie began to trot away, speaking out to nopony in general "Oh well...that's the end of it I suppose..."

Trixie smiled, waiting for it...knowing the words were coming. She stopped in her tracks as her ears perked, her smile widening as Twilight shouted "Wait! It doesn't have to be the end just yet!" Trixie turned her head slightly as Twilight quickly trotted up beside her, grumbling "Princess Celestia deserves to die for what she's done to Equestria...but I'm just one unicorn. If the Lunar Guard and Luna herself are really protecting her behind the barrier shields of Canterlot...then I need help!"

At this, the azure mare simply faked a scoff and began to trot away, her words dripping with a mock tone of anger "Oh? Isn't this ironic, the great Element of Magic asking me, Trixie, of all ponies to help out?"

"Please Trixie..." sighed a desperate Twilight, stretching a lavender hoof out towards the mare "I know things may not have worked out in the past...but what's happening now is much bigger than the feud between us! We need to work together if we're going to topple Canterlot!" Trixie frowned for a moment, turning her head back away to the front as she appeared to dive into deep though, presumably thinking over an answer for Twilight.

What Twilight didn't know about, however...was the sinister plot turning and twisting in Trixie's mind, a plan that she had been developing since even before the Ponyville Incident when she was first infected. 'Stupid girl...' Trixie squeed in her mind "It's all coming together so beautifully...though it may take another month or so to bring together...I'll have the shields of Canterlot down soon enough! And then...then Celestia will be dead, and Luna soon after! Equestria will be MINE! MINE!!!!" MI-"

"Trixie...?" Twilight whispered in concern, drawing a light twitch out of other unicorn's neck.

After a moments more of silence, Trixie finally turned around and with a heavy sigh and a grimace on her face, said "Very well Twilight Sparkle...I shall help." Twilight smiled and nodded her head in glee, but it was short-lived as Trixie took on a very serious look and growled "Though the training and preparations will be strenuous as they will be deadly. I have been a Carrier for a lot longer than you have Sparkle...it will take time for your magic to fully replenish and reach its new peak. Once it does...I'll teach you how to better control it...and how to control The Afflicted themselves! Give it a month or so...and you and I will be storming the gates of Canterlot, together!"

~*~

"Sometimes I look back on that day...feeling like it was an eternity ago. When all that passed were twenty eight days...and I found myself training vigorously in Manehatten, I wondered about a lot of things that just weren't making sense. Things weren't adding up...and I had reason to doubt Trixie. Why did she REALLY want to lay siege to Canterlot? It wasn't for Princess Celestia...that was MY goal. What was she playing at? I asked her, of course, about everything...or, well, at least I asked all that I could."

Twilight sat on her rump on the large hill of sand that took up most of Manehatten's Canter Park. In front of her sat four Afflicted, their red eyes glowing and their chests rapidly rising and falling and their breath coming out in ragged gasps. The unicorn furrowed her brow as she pointed with a hoof towards a ruined dumpster resting at the corner of a sidewalk outside one of the demolished buildings. She drew in a breath and called upon what Trixie called her 'Inner Magic', igniting her horn with a reddish glow and hissing "Attaaaack...."

The Afflicted immediately turned and gunned it towards the dumpster, shrieks and howls emitting from their diseased muzzles as they bucked, swiped, and headbutted the infernal trash can with all their might. "Ssssstop!" Twilight hissed, The Afflicted quickly obeying and disengaging from the attack, standing idly whilst staring towards their master. Twilight, having been fed up with waiting, finally sighed and hissed "Roooaaaam....Passssssively..." The Afflicted blinked for a moment, as if confused, before finally turning away and splitting up their tiny group. They began to walk about the area around Twilight, poking and prodding things with hooves and noses, as if they were scavenging or searching for something buried in the sand.

For a little while, Twilight simply sat on her rump, watching her little ponies walk about. She watched them with an amused expression on her face, carefully studying how they moved, how they roamed, how they acted when not on the hunt or the prowl. It was quite a treat for Twilight, seeing as she always wanted to get a chance to study The Afflicted in their natural, non-aggression state, but never could because of the dangers of infection back in Ponyville. She made as many observations, theories, and conclusions as she could in the allotted time that she had. She knew Trixie would be back soon from the supposed 'errands' that she was running...and it was time Twilight needed to quickly crunch in as much observations as she could while forming her own 'Master Plan.'

The goal, of course, was Princess Celestia. Nothing else mattered...nothing else was more important. Celestia was the beginning of this terrible plague...and she would certainly be the end of it. "Once I kill her..." Twilight whispered to herself "I'll use The Afflicted to destroy all of Canterlot...and then Purge my minions right after that." It was a half contradictory plan, in the sense that the goal was Princess Celestia...and the means to get to her were The Afflicted themselves. Canterlot may as well have been corrupt...what with the Lunar Guard and Luna abandoning her as well. Once Canterlot and its corruption had been dealt with...she'd simply wipe out The Afflicted and disappear.

She'd give Pony-kind a chance to start over on their OWN terms...in a world free of Ravage. She of course, would start her own little infection far off in the west of the world...perhaps in Zebrica. A tiny horde and a place to call her own...away from the miserable lands of Equestria and the terrible memories that still scarred her mind from that dreadful place. She sighed as she thought of Big Macintosh and the rest of her old friends. The more she thought, though...the more she agreed with Trixie that they'd be better off without her. What pony would want to be friends with a diseased monster that was responsible for spreading about the Ravage?

The lavender unicorn let out a tiny sniffle as she looked towards the ground, tears brimming in her eyes. She would have liked to turn back into a regular pony...to have the chance to live a normal life again. Unfortunately for her...when she traveled back to the bunker to the Everfree Forest for more information on the research and development of the virus...she learned that once infected...a Carrier could only purge him or herself once...

The Virus needed time to study and fully corrupt its host, memorizing its genetic layout in order to prepare for a permanent infection. Fresh Carriers could prevent this if they acted quick enough, which was how Twilight had escaped her first infection...but after she was somehow infected a second time, the Ravage had already altered her body in a way to where it could make a quick and easy infection possible...corrupting her for good.

It didn't really help either that all the known records of any kind of cure development or anti-virus for the Ravage was destroyed by Celestia's guards in an attempt to cover their tracks. The very thought of it was enough to make Twilight's ears droop and the first droplets of tears to fall from her face. She stamped the ground repeatedly with her hooves, each strike bringing up tiny plumes of death that didn't serve any other purpose but to remind Twilight about her previous life going up in flames...turning into ash and dust itself.

Her crying and stamping ceased however as a thunderous 'CRACK!' of magical teleportation energy echoed out across Canter Park. Twilight's Afflicted bolted away as Trixie stood up right on the dessert of sand, craning her neck and getting a few kinks out. She let out a happy sigh and trotted over towards Twilight as she said "Cloudsdale is out of the picture! Now there's no city between us and Canterlot that can give the defenders any kind of early warning. I'll begin siphoning my hordes via train to the east...and then...before long...we'll have Canterlot bowing to our hooves!"

Twilight sat rigid for a moment, still riding off the tail-end of her little fit before offering a weak smiling and whispering with a hoarse voice "I'm glad...it'll make getting to Celestia all the more easier." Trixie nodded and started to move past Twilight, an agenda clear in her mind that she wanted to get to as soon as possible. Before she could get far, however, Twilight suddenly held out a hoof towards her and shouted "Wait! Trixie!"

The mare stopped for a moment, turning her head back towards Twilight with a raised eyebrow and a curious expression stretched over her face. "You..." began the lavender mare "You never told me about how you were infected...how you became a Carrier." This nearly floored Trixie, the mare's eyes widening and her irises shrinking. She hadn't been expecting this question...believing it to have been already answered back when the two had met outside the flaming ruins of Ponyville. Trixie thought about telling Twilight to mind her own business at first...to simply prepare for Canterlot's Siege...but an idea struck out in her mind. It had begun to quickly weave Twilight into her master plan for Canterlot...her goal for total domination of all Pony-Kind.

'Perhaps Twilight can help me afterall...' Trixie whispered to herself in thought 'If I tell her...perhaps she'll grow even more sympathetic to my cause...and I won't have to worry about killing Twilight until after all is said and done and the Royalty is dead! She smiled as she began to walk back towards Twilight with a nod as she pondered on 'Soon...soon soon soon! I'll get back at Equestria for doubting me...for making me their fool! Big Macintosh is already out of the shield...as well as Shadow Squad...leaving nopony left except the weak Elements of Harmony to defend Canterlot! There won't be enough of them to withstand the never ending hordes of Afflicted that I've gathered! Too long I have been mistreated and mocked for my powerful abilities...too long have I been made the ass of all ponies in this disgusting heap of land! Not anymore...soon, they'll all learn what it TRULY means to be faced with an enemy that is all too great...and all too powerful!!!'

Trixie let out a sigh as she sat on her rear, looking towards Twilight with a bit of a frown on her face. "I suppose I didn't really tell you what actually happened that day..." she began, drawing a nod out of the lavender unicorn. Trixie let out a light breath and went on "Well there's not much to tell...Celestia and the rest of her officials had opened up this new 'Drug Trial' test, offering large sums of bits for anyone interested in doing a trial run for their latest 'unicorn enhancement.'" She paused to take a breath and scratch at an itch on her hoof, allowing Twilight to process the information with a heavy sigh and a sad shake of her head. She knew enough to know what was coming next...to know exactly what dark, deadly lengths that Celestia was prepared to go to for a Carrier. "Anyway..." Trixie continued "I offered myself up, signed the paperwork and laid on the table. I looked towards my left while they were strapping me down and...and I saw the project's 'Noble Benefactors', Prince-"

"Princess Celestia and Doctor Patho Gen, right?" Twilight interjected, to which Trixie merely laughed and shook her head.

"No...even better" Trixie whispered with a tone of malice in her voice "Princess Celestia...AND...Princess Luna"

Twilight's jaw dropped. There were no words to describe the sudden rage she felt building up in her heart and body. Princess Luna...the mare she had come to trust more than any other in Equestria...the Princess she thought was going to bring Equestria out of its dark, depressing days of blood and violence and into a golden age of peace and prosperity. But if what Trixie said was true...it only meant that Luna was against her as well, and had known about the Ravage all along. She felt her chest swelling and her heartbeat quicken as she realized that Captain Shadow-Mane had lied to her as well. There was no way an elite guard like Shadow COULDN'T know about the Ravage! She had heard in the Town Hall, Sweet Apple Acres, and even the Escape Train from Ponyville itself about how close Luna and Shadow were in communication.

Trixie smiled as Twilight let out a furious shriek of rage, the lavender mare's eyes gleaming with violet and red as the cries and howls of her horde echoed upwards with her across the entire city of Manehatten. She was tired of all the lies...all the deceit! Trixie had been right all along, nopony could be trusted! They ALL had to burn in order for Equestria to be fully free of their corruption. It was at that moment that Twilight decided...that it was time for training no longer. It was time for action, for execution, for ATTACK! She'd follow Trixie's plan...allowing the azure unicorn to take the first waves of Afflicted with her to Canterlot to begin the attack while Twilight channeled her magic in Manehatten to draw more and more stragglers of Afflicted that were wandering about the plains and fields of Equestria.

She would be summoned, of course, when Canterlot's barriers began to fall...after all....

...she wasn't going to miss another chance at Princess Celestia, or Luna. She wasn't going to miss it for the world...

~*~

"And that's it..." Twilight finished, looking up towards the sky as clouds of black rolled across the area "That's how it's all going to end...with Canterlot's destruction and the corrupt Royalty falling to those who have been victimized by their horrendous science project's and immoral pursuits for the purpose of war and death."

Shadow-Mane, Sky-Driver, and Big Macintosh were all sitting in front of her, eyes wide and jaws agape. Who said it first was a mystery to all four of them, but the word "BULLSHIT!" rang out clear as day, making Twilight simply scoff and shake her head.

"That's a load of SHIT Twilight Sparkle and you know it!" Shadow shouted, making Sky's ears droop from the loudness.

"Tain't right at all Twi'!" agreed Macintosh "Shadow may have gone n' hid some things from us, but it was for all our safety! He needed us all to work together to escape Ponyville, he was gonna tell us everything but...ya'll gone n' ran off!"

"It doesn't matter now Macintosh!" countered Twilight with a furious snarl "All that matters is that Celestia PAY for what she's done! That they ALL pay for what has happened to Equestria!"

Macintosh narrowed his eyes and let out a heavy scoff before barking "Now you just wait a durn' minute there! What makes you th-"

He was cut off by Shadow's sudden interjection...a set of words that shocked even Twilight as they were uttered. "She's right..." he whispered, looking towards the ground, drawing a soundless 'Huh!?' out of Sky and Macintosh. The Captain looked back up into the angry face of Twilight Sparkle as he sighed and said "She's right. We all had a part to play in the Ravage Virus ever since Operation Anchor-Wing was a total failure. We all have blood on our hooves because of it...and all of us who were involved deserve to die..."

This confused Big Macintosh, even Twilight as they both whispered the question "Operation...Anchor-Wing?" Macintosh narrowed his eyes and spoke as he turned towards Shadow "Ya'll mentioned something bout' an...'Anchor-Thingy' before...what exactly was it?"

"I'd like to know as well before I...depart...." Twilight added, getting a dark glare out of Macintosh which she ignored."

"Cap...?" Sky asked in uncertainly, unsure if Shadow was really willing to take the risk of treason and execution for revealing highly classified information.

"Oh what does it matter!?" Shadow groaned "Either way, the lot of us involved are dead anyway...why not come clean...wash as much blood off our hooves as we can?" Sky gave a simple nod, bowing his head as Shadow-Mane turned his head towards Macintosh and Twilight before taking in a deep breath and saying "Operation Anchor-Wing...took place after the War of the Clouds and Trees...which was of course the-"

"Civil War that rocked Equestria for a few years...yes I know." Twilight interrupted for a moment "I read about it back in Ponyville...it happened so many years ago...how is this relevant!?"

"If you'd let me FINISH!" Shadow growled, narrowing his eyes and shutting up Twilight. "Thank you...anyway, after the civil war, it wasn't long until the Gryphons declared war on Equestria...even sent a few raiding parties to attack some of our settlements and villages. The attacks were, by some miracle, kept under hush hush, tales of winged beasts and armies passed off as mere myth and hoaxes, according to Canterlot." Twilight scoffed, something Shadow ignored as he went on "Anyway...this was when Operation Anchor-Wing came into effect. It was shortly after you and the rest of the Elements of Harmony defeated Discord that the Ravage Virus was created. The full capabilities of such a virus had yet to be tested, but it was already determined by the science department that a Carrier variant had to of existed at some point. If they could get a unicorn to become a Carrier...they could create a super soldier capable of leading an army that would not question orders, would not suffer the pains of morale, and that could accomplish, single-hooved, total genocide of an entire race...achieving the end result of adding the enemies numbers to our own."

Twilight and Macintosh looked towards the Captain with jaws dropped, while Sky simply shook his head in shame and turned away from the group. Shadow took in another heavy breath and went on, tears brimming in his eyes "The object of Operation Anchor-Wing was simple...lead a Carrier into Gryphon territory, and covertly decimate their entire race, proving that the age of warfare for Equestria had evolved into something that none would dare stand against...permanently securing peace and prosperity for all of Equestria." He finally let the tears fall, pain and guilt clawing at his voice as he sobbed, looking Twilight straight in the eyes and screaming "I was part of the squad sent to escort the Carrier into Gryphon Territory! Sky-Driver, Wind-Weaver, Nightfire, Moon-Lance, and my old Captain, Captain Night-Mare...we all escorted the Carrier into enemy lands...with genocide stamped in all our brains!" The group looked at him with fear and panic in their eyes as Shadow's eyes grew wide and his lungs expelled a mighty roar of words,

"IT WAS ALL MY FAULT! EVERYTHING! THE OPERATION, THE INFECTIONS, EVERYTHING!!! I HAD MY HOOF IN THIS FROM DAY ONE!"

At this, Sky's ears perked and he turned his head towards the Captain, a concerned scowl crossing his face "What? Captain what are you talking about...you never told the squad about all that! What do you mean it was all YOUR fault, we were all in the Operation, together!"

"No Sky!" Shadow bawled, falling to the ground in a crumpled heap and burying his face in his hooves. "You don't understand...there were things I hid even from Shadow Squad...from Night-Mare...from everypony!" His tears flowed freely...freely and like a gushing river as he finally uttered the statement that would change the three ponies lives and their worlds, forever:

....