White was waiting by Sun's door after knocking loudly for him to get up. He opened the door wearing his saddlebags and a pair of shades over his eyes. "Ready to rock, let's do this."
"My my, somepony had a nice sleep. Anything happen in you dreams I should know about?"
Sun grinned. "Nothing two consenting adults should be ashamed of. Is the cart ready?"
"Woah woah, hold your horses. What's that mean, consenting adults?" She looked at him in shock.
Looking at her over his glasses he winked. "Just a relaxing night is all, under the star. Have you ever spent an hour appreciating the moon over you?"
"Oh dear, you're seriously confusing. Are you going to tell me anything?" She turned and he joined her walking towards the castle doors.
"Only that I'm guaranteed to have good nights for a while," He dropped his grin to a warm smile as he pranced beside her, "ya ready for our trip? I tittaly am. Totally am! I meant totally am."
"You know, you're not as charming as you think you are," the doors opened and the sunlight washed over them, "let's go."
"I'm not trying to be charming I just don't know how to talk to mares. Give me a stallion and I can take it all night long but mares..."
White laughed out loud. "You should really talk less and just think before you say anything else. Let's go, guards." She ordered as the two Pegasus took to the air under her command heading north Sun and White held on and watched the view form above. A rare sight for most non-Pegasi they watched as they passed over trees and tiny ponies walking across the land farming or traveling pointing to sighs as they went. The guards held a quiet conversation and the trip seemed to only take a couple hours even though it was almost ten.
"We're almost there, get your scarf on and maybe a coat if you're not used to the cold. It's the warm season but it still gets snow from the frozen north." Donning their weather gear they held on as the cart lurched and turned as the Pegasus took to the ground.
"We'll land outside the main city to the research lab in the north west so we'll get a pass over view of Winneypeg, a sight I've only seen three times so take it all in," White said loudly as the air grew thicker and the wind rushing around them grew louder. Nodding Sun took off his shades and looked over the edge and shivered slightly, trying to hide it to look cool for the mare opposite him. The sight was pretty impressive as Winneypeg was a more advanced city that also happened to be one of the closest to the frozen north, and to see it from above in the midday meant he could make out their power grid.
A sight that always fascinated him was electric power and it's currents. He had seen electric items plenty of times in his travel however Ponyville was still off the grid and Twilight was the most dangerous person to even say 'hello' to without receiving a lecture on anything that crossed her mind, much lest entering the library for a book on the subject. So, he was limited to magazines or asking various penpals about their knowledge on worldly subjects. Or sneaking into the library with the dozens of other ponies in town when Twilight would leave the hamlet for any reason; saving the world or taking a vacation to Canterlot were the best since she'd be gone for days at a time and ponies could raid to their hearts content the extensive knowledge she hoarded behind barbs of superior intellect.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool," was all he replied as he leaned over the edge to see a small power substation and shouted, "my shades!" He lunged but was caught in Whites magic from falling over the edge.
Sitting him back into his seat and attaching his seatbelt she narrowed her eyes at him. "What the spell was that about? They're just shades, not worth dying over."
"Well," he rubbed the back of his neck and shifted in his seat, "Luna gave them to me because I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Wait, you said you had a good sleep. How did you-- Oh Celestia! Seriously!" She gawked at him in disbelief.
Blushing he turned to look back over the city as she peppered him with questions. I'm really gonna have to learn a spell for silence after we land because I'll never hear the end of this. Darn it Sun, why do you have to be so awkward that mares fall for you? And Luna of all ponies now. He pondered the thought of riding one of the guards for the rest of the trip as he tried to think of a dozen things to block out the mares barrage of unbiased questions about his night with the princess of the moon.
"Okay, you won't kiss and tell. Oh my! Did you two kiss? How was it or was it just nuzzling? I imagine after so long maybe she just needed some cuddling. Is that all you did? Maybe-"
"Ahem," a tall imposing earth mare coughed as the questions continued into the research lab, "Snow it's nice to see you. I assume this is Sun? I hope I'm not interrupting a very important conversation about kissing but the lives of at least 23,000 ponies hang directly in the balance and I personally consider that to be more important. I'm nurse Bray."
"Bray?" Sun asked.
"Verta Bray. Call me Bray, do you know why you're here or has my assistant been regaling you with questions about your kissing abilities these past several days?"
Sun blushed as White stepped up defending herself. "It hasn't been that long of a trip and I'm not talking about kissing. A lot has happened to this poor stallion and I'm just trying to make him feel better," she turned and winked at Sun, "and he knows. He's infected too it seems so we have to get him to Rain before it progresses to the point he's no longer able to help us."
"Don't lecture me on my duties assistant. Rain has taken ill so I have the honor of taking over for the next couple days. Before you ask," she held a hoof up, "it's a flu, not the illness. He's not used to the weather here and didn't dress warmly when he went into town. Take that into the fact that it's flu season and you have a very sick pony any day of the week. He's in the infirmary resting and I'll take you to him in a few hours. Follow me."
Bray turned and walked ahead leading them down an empty set of corridors adorned with railing on the walls to aid ponies in walking exercises and scenery artwork every few paces spaced apart.
Leading them to a door the nurse grabbed her lanyard and photo ID and held it to a pad. A click indicated the door unlocked and she walked through. Sun slowed as he passed the threshold trying to see what made it happen but to no avail. "So, how do you like your electricity?"
"It's a convenience that makes our job easier and we're thankful for it. Rarely but on occasion I'll personally thank the photo of Tomato Edible for helping create it. Silly name but a genius inventor, he also helped create radios. Well, a precursor to them I'm certain you still use in your powerless towns. I'll have to thank him when I get home again for what he's opened the door to our entire society. Can you imagine that in the next generation electricity is planned to cover every town from the smallest burg to every home in Canterlot?"
The joy in her voice was welcome from the cold nurse the he had met a few minutes prior.
"So, you like technology Sun?"
"Oh yes. I live in Ponyville and Twilight Sparkle runs the library so getting books on science is usually a nightmare but when we finally do get to our goal it's amazing. So much has been learned and has yet to be discovered," he trailed off into a book he had found about water flow.
"I would have thought the great Twilight Sparkle would be perfect for the job."
"Well she is, she's also a braggart and talks about everything you're about to read in a single breath taking the fun out of it," he scoffed as he spoke.
Bray chuckled as they approached another door. "I heard she was a bit overbearing but now from a pony who knows her it's a confirmation. Come in to my lab and prepare to be amazed!" She said with flair disregarding her icy attitude from before as a unicorn nodded and used his magic to open the door. Bursting in spinning to face them she stood proud and shouted. "Welcome to Bray's. Laboratory! Mwahahaha!"
The seven ponies in the room looked at her flatly. "Nurse, we're trying to work in 'your lab' so can you keep the noise down."
"Oh, just let me have a little flair sometimes you prudes. Follow me you two, his research is over here. Now, as an earth pony I don't understand all of it but most of it is easy enough." Walking to an office she led him to a cluster of desks and to one with a picture of their family outside the shop in Ponyville. All were smiling and Rain had a dorky grin that brightened the photo all the more.
"So that's where that picture went," Sun said calmly.
"Here are his notes."
"Um, isn't that a TV thing? Where's the paper?" Ponies in the room and his guides chuckled.
"It's called a computer and unicorns are so far the best with them, Pegasi second and earth ponies last. The more dexterous a you are the better you are to use them for the time being. Snow, show him what we're going to do."
White activated the computer and input dozens of commands faster than he could keep up with. A holographic image appeared over the center of the tables and the lights dimmed as a unicorn at another computer turned a knob by the door.
"This' Equestria and this' where we believe the infected are and where reports of it starting could have been," the map was all encompassing of the land with three large blue cirlces over Baltimare, Saddle Arabia and Maneapolis while orange clouds waved through nearly every city indicating the infected. "We've found the virus looks like," a key clicked on the computer and the image changed again to a black swirling orb that looked like a generic plant cell he had seen in a book about gardening only it had spikes popping in and out of it as well as the appearance of arcane energy swirling around it.
"So, if it's that big why don't we stab it?" Laughter filled the room.
"He's certainly as funny as his son. No, this is a magnifcation of thousands of times. These buggers are in all our brains distorting the magic flow of active users. Rain believe the cure lies within the creator of the virus and that would be the Changelings."
"Cha-Changelings!? Well forget that! I'm not going to be put into an egg and have my life sucked away."
"You're not going alone and we're short on ponies that are immune to the disease."
"Immune? I'm in stage one she said," Sun said jokingly.
"No, she was supposed to tell you that you and your son are immune. In fact of the six reported cases of immunity or resistance they've all been male and in a society that's 80% female that's a very big deal to our entire species." Sun took a step back and bumped into a swivel chair and looked at the nurse in disbelief.
"So, I can't die from this but others will? I heard cures can be in our blood, can't you use that?"
"This isn't in our blood. It's in our brains and the only way to stop them is horn removal or death. For many those are one and the same. Sun, your son is a hero in one way already."
"How? Because he found the germ?"
"No, he allowed, begged, princess Luna to cast dark magic on him to test his theory. Not only are you both immune to the disease but highly resistant to dark magic as well. You may be able to use the dark magic yourselves as well without being corrupted which would be a major breakthrough for the entire mystical aspect of our society not to mention ways to use it for the betterment of every creature on the planet not just us ponies but maybe make peace with dragons or bring an end to the Changeling wars all together."
"That sounds all well and good but that doesn't mean they won't spear me and eat my innards with muddy water!" Sun shouted as he backed under a table trying to hide.
"Well, I truly feel for you since the dark magic in them makes them feel off emotions. They only eat when they are under cover since they get no nutritional value from eating and have no way to excrete what they eat. They just cough up a ball of their food later like a cat does."
"Eew. Nothing about this is making me want to go face my early death."
White and Bray looked at each other. "I'm going too, with or without you," White said.
Standing up quickly Sun banged his head hard and knocked a few objects to the floor from the desk he was under. With a tear leaving his eye he looked at the mares. "Okay, I think I'll go. Just to keep her safe and all."
"What a charmer," Bray said smiling between the two.