Multiversal Contagion

by Razalon The Lizardman

Chapter 3

Dr. Mario fidgeted in his biohazard suit, struggling to make it fit good around his body. The princesses weren’t kidding when they said as much earlier; a part of him was worried this could become a problem once they got into the heart of the quarantine zone. The face protector they’d supplied him fit much better, which was good since the face was the most vulnerable part of the body for the viruses. He continued fidgeting with his suit until Princess Celestia summoned a rope out of thin air and began using her magic to tightly secure the suit around his body with it, earning a grateful nod from him since she couldn’t see his smile through the face protector.

He turned his gaze around the castle entrance hall, taking in the group that was gathered: both princesses, six guardsponies (three each belonging to the princesses, with Luna’s own being blue like her and with bat wings), and himself, all decked out in biohazard suits and face protectors. The megavitamin bottles were evenly distributed between all the guards and Celestia. Why the princesses wanted to come along in spite of the danger, Dr. Mario had no idea, but he wasn’t going to argue with royalty. The guards were all trying to remain stoic and professional, but he could see a sliver of unease in their eyes, possibly over the princesses’ insistence for coming along.

Celestia finished tying the rope and stepped to the front of the crowd, right in front of the door. She held her megavitamin bottles in her magic next to her head as she faced the crowd.

“Here’s how we’ll do this:” she started, each word coming out muffled through her face protector, “We’ll split into three teams, with two members being responsible for restraining victims while the third will administer the megavitamins. My sister, Dr. Mario and I will form one group, and our respective guards will form their own groups. We must make every pill count, and we might not have enough for every infected pony we come across. Keep close together and watch each others’ flanks. Once we’ve cleared the entire city, we will round up the victims and transport them to the hospital wing for further inspection. This is a crisis, simply put, and we must resolve it before it becomes impossible to contain.”

All the guards snapped salutes at the end of her debriefing. Celestia turned and opened the gigantic front doors with her magic. She then led everyone across the drawbridge and onto the front lawn of the castle. The forcefield was in effect, surrounding the castle in the form of a golden, transparent dome. A quick glance around showed no ponies attempting to break through the barrier. The group approached the barrier, remaining cautious even with the safety it provided. Celestia lit up her horn again and shot a beam of light at the barrier. The light expanded, creating a decently-sized hole big enough for Dr. Mario and the guards to slip through. One by one, they did so, and Celestia shut off her magic. She and Luna then teleported past the barrier, reappearing next to the group.

“Couldn’t ‘unicorns’ do the same thing to slip past the barrier?” Dr. Mario asked.

“Our magic is greater than that of ordinary unicorns,” Celestia explained.

“What my sister means to say,” Luna spoke up, “is that we have access to a special extra-dimensional passage that ordinary unicorns aren’t aware of, yet allows us to bypass this forcefield.”

Celestia made a playful ‘shhh’ sound behind her face protector, but Luna made no obvious reaction.

Dr. Mario placed a hand to his forehead, feeling overwhelmed by the oddity of it all. He still hadn’t wrapped his head around how different things were here, but the unfolding crisis was more important. There would be plenty of time for questions once it was resolved.

“Let’s get to work,” Celestia said. She gestured to her own guards. “You three comb the commercial district.”

Her guards saluted again and galloped off down the road.

“You three comb the outskirts of the city, and be extra vigilant,” Luna said to her own guards.

They similarly saluted and flew off in the opposite direction.

“We three will be taking the residential district,” Celestia said. She turned to Dr. Mario. “You aren’t familiar with the layout of the town, so be extra sure to stay close to us.”

“Okie Dokie,” he replied.

The three of them fell into step side by side as they exited the castle grounds and onto the dirt road leading to the city. Looking at the city, Dr. Mario was impressed by the architecture of Canterlot. Grand spires boasting a wide range of bright colors rose above smaller, yet still ornately designed shops and residential houses while colorful flags stood atop, waving in the wind. The dirt path gave way to a cobblestone road ahead leading into the city. A look back to Canterlot Castle made Dr. Mario feel insignificant under its towering grandeur.

Looking to the right, his jaw dropped at the view. Lush, grassy plains stretched out beyond the mountain, broken up by a couple of rivers running into forests that touched the horizon. A couple of quaint-looking settlements dotted the landscape and a glance up revealed, to his shock, a city in the clouds! The distant forms of pegasi flying to and fro could be seen within the city’s cloud walls. Everything was so beautiful and picturesque that his heart was filled with childlike awe the entire walk to Canterlot proper.

Then they crossed the threshold into the city itself and Dr. Mario felt his wonderment evaporate and his body tense. It looked like a hurricane had blown through. No ponies were strolling about. Shopping bags and papers and other kinds of belongings were strewn about the streets as if a mass panic had taken place, which honestly wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. Everything was quiet; not even birds were chirping. The city itself felt dead. There should’ve been signs of life, however brief, but there was nothing, not even creatures other than ponies. The elaborate architecture Canterlot boasted made its current state of a ghost town all the more unsettling. A gust of wind blew a piece of paper like a tumbleweed in front of them, further adding to that analogy.

“Could the entire city be infected?” Luna asked to no one in particular.

“Possibly,” Celestia replied. “Or perhaps ponies have barricaded themselves indoors?”

Dr. Mario glanced up toward a window in a nearby building that might have been a library judging by the book picture above the front doors; there weren’t any signs of a barricade from inside. He hoped Celestia was right, regardless. Something caught his eye as he brought his gaze back down; a flicker of movement in the alleyway next to the building. He trained his gaze there, spying a mouse crawling out of a hole in the wall; a ventilation opening from the looks of it.

“Look,” he said, pointing toward the mouse.

Celestia and Luna stopped and trained their gazes on the mouse. “Can you tell it’s infected?” Luna whispered.

“We haven’t seen-a anything living yet,” he replied.

The mouse noticed them as it scurried out of the alleyway, stopping to stare at them. The air filled with tension as they stared each other down. Moments passed with neither side moving a muscle. Dr. Mario studied the rodent, trying to find any sign that it might be infected, but he couldn’t find anything, which wasn’t surprising since he wasn’t a veterinarian. The symptoms of the Primary Virus were the same across every sapient species back home, however, so the fact that the mouse wasn’t blowing multi-colored snot was a good sign, at least.

The mouse broke its gaze away from the three of them, looking back at the ventilation opening for a second before scurrying off down the street. Everyone watched it go until it disappeared around another building before looking back at the ventilation duct it came through.

“Could there be some ponies inside?” Luna asked.

“I believe this warrants further investigation,” Celestia said.

She took off into the air and flew towards the building. Luna followed right behind while Dr. Mario waited at the entrance to the alleyway, cautiously glancing over his shoulder every other second. Celestia and Luna moved from window to window, peering inside and even knocking on the front door. Dr. Mario tried shouting into the ventilation duct but heard nothing in return. If he had a flashlight he could check to see if the mouse had left any multi-colored presents inside; he should’ve grabbed a few more things from his workspace in hindsight.

“None of the windows are boarded up,” Celestia reported once they returned to him. “Perhaps we’re mistaken to believe there are ponies inside.”

Luna glanced at the building. “This is the library. In the event of a panic, I would like to believe some of our little ponies would flee to a public building such as this one. Perhaps we should teleport inside?”

Celestia looked unsure. “Maybe we should—”

A heavy flapping sound from above silenced her. Everyone looked up to see the tip of a red wing disappear over the library’s rooftop.

“Do not be alarmed, little one!” Luna called. “We possess a cure to the sickness ravaging our fair city. If you are feeling unwell, please come to us!”

Moments passed without a response. All three of them kept their eyes glued to the rooftop, waiting for somepony to show themselves. A full minute passed and still, no one did. A sinking feeling settled in Dr. Mario’s stomach and he unscrewed the cap off of one of his bottles and placed the rest in his suit’s pocket. He poured a few megavitamins into his hand and clenched it tightly, bracing himself.

A light clop sounded from behind them. They turned to see a blue earth pony standing at the entrance to the alleyway. Their face was obscured behind their light green mane while their tail twitched almost spasmodically and covering their mouth was a thick layer of multi-colored snot.

“Please relax, Miss,” Celestia attempted to soothe. “We are here to help. Stay perfectly still and we will provide you with a cure to your sickness.”

“I don’t-a think they’re listening, Princess,” Dr. Mario said.

“What do you mean?” Luna asked.

Before he could give an answer, there was more heavy flapping from above. They looked up to see two pegasi, one red and one green, dive-bombing them, faces coated with multi-colored snot and eyes glazed over.