To Save Equestria: The Mysterious Virus

by KalaAWild

Chapter 14: "Death is only the beginning"

A/N: Just so we're clear before you read on, the chapter name is a quote from the movie "Mummy" which is arguably an epic movie. I don't take any credit for the quote or any references used in this story and I just wanted to say it right now before you read on.

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Silvershot Crimson searched for the fiend that threatened Equestria with death. Danja the Alchemist started a life-ending virus with no name nearly a thousand years ago because of a promise one of Silvershot's earliest ancestors broke. Because of that mistake, the entire nation of Equestria would be sent into ruins with the pony race going extinct. It was up to Silvershot with the help of Applebloom, the little sister of the element of honesty Applejack, and the element of loyalty Rainbow Dash to fix the problem.

The group divided amongst each other in order to conquer the virus. Applebloom and Rainbow Dash headed to Canterlot to combine parts of an ancient and powerful artifact known as the element of sacrifice. With the real element of sacrifice fixed, the virus would be stopped and everypony would be safe for the time being. Silvershot had to find Danja and ultimately stop her from catalyzing the virus spread. Even if the element of sacrifice was fixed, Danja could still kill everypony who’d been affected by the virus. At her command, after a certain amount of time, she could kill everypony in one coup de grace.

Silvershot wasn't alone when he was looking for Danja. Silvershot's ancestors were helping him the entire trek of the adventure. The one who started it all a thousand years ago, Armonia Fuoco Cavallo, had been showing Silvershot his memories in order for him to figure out how to stop the virus. Another mysterious ancestor, Fantasia Cavallo, showed Silvershot the mine in which he could get to Ponyville and find Danja.

Silvershot had so many questions to ask Fantasia. She had to know everything about the Cavallo family. She had secretly been helping every member of the family ever since her death. Maybe a lot of questions on Silvershot's mind could be answered before he faced Danja.

As he followed Fantasia through the blistering snow storm of the Crystal Mountains, he asked the questions that had been bouncing around his brain for so long.

"Fantasia," Silvershot called out to his ghostly ancestor. "May I ask you a few questions before this is over? I need them answered."

"We’ve got some time before we reach the mine," Fantasia answered. "What do you need answered?"

"Why does Danja want to destroy the pony race? All I know from Armonia's memories are that he took the element of sacrifice away from her."

"She hated our kind anyways. She thought ponies were an alien race; these creatures of multi-colored manes and coats and some being able to fly or perform magic. She thought zebras were the perfect race because zebras looked like each other and none other could be better than another. With the element of sacrifice, she could have brought the Zebra Kingdom to power and rule the world. When she knew she couldn't get history's most powerful weapon, she had to make her own using the virus Armonia let loose."

"How come Danja and Finn managed to stay alive after all these years? Finn is a Pegasus so I wouldn't imagine him having any magical powers and Danja is a zebra so it's the same for her."

"Danja was notorious for making long-life lasting potions that bit billionaires would buy. Finn never really met Danja in person but he had always been working for her as a third party member. Did it not occur to you that it was strange he had a specialized blacksmith on his ship that made weapons or how the Griffin's had guns went they were just recently invented by ponies? Finn has been transporting weapons to and from Equestria under Celestia's nose. This job that he does for Danja gives him resistance to age. That's why you knew him as colt back in Aviation School. He took a drink of the potion back then. That dreaded bastard. He betrayed Armonia and left him to die alone in the ruins."

Silvershot sensed a little anger in her voice. "How did that happen? Finn was best friends with Armonia."

"To Finn, jobs came first before personal life. He trapped him under the ruins and made sure he died in there, and all for yet another one of those stupid potions. I really wished I found Finn before I died. I would have killed him and thrown him down a hole, too."

Silvershot needed to change the subject, and rather quickly. If Fantasia was really going to go back to wherever she came from, he didn't want her to be angry about something that happened in her past life. "You know what, forget about that subject. If you're part of the Cavallo family, where're your wings and your horn?"

She smiled at him. Even though the winds made it hard to see a single hoof in front of him, he could see the grin on her face. "You know I was the one who invented the disguise spell for alicorns, right? The spell freely allows alicorns to choose which pony race they wanted to look like. Why do you think you looked like a normal earth pony last year? You forgot you cast the spell on yourself right after you ran away from Venturia."

And the thought just occurred to him right then. He did forget that had he cast the spell on himself while running to hide his wings and horn in the Everfree Forest. Before he could ask any more questions, Fantasia stopped in front of a cave entrance. Next to the entrance was a sign that conveniently said, "Venturian Mining Corporation; Line from Venturia to Crystal Empire" in Venturian.

Silvershot quickly read the sign and walked into the cave. He took several hoofsteps before he realized he was the only one walking. Fantasia was standing in front of the mouth of the cave. He gave a confused look and then walked towards her.

"Aren't you coming too?"

"I can't. I am only supposed to show you where the cave entrance is to the mine. Any minute now, I am bound to return to sleep. You have to go in there alone."

"I still need your help. I can't do this alone. I don't want to be alone."

"Don't worry Silvershot." In Silvershot's eyes, Fantasia's image started to flicker like an old vintage movie. She lifted her hoof to the air and pointed at her head. "I'll always be in here. Armonia is in there too, helping you with the traps that he himself set up."

Fantasia's body disappeared as soon as the flickering subsided. She left something behind before vanishing. There was a pair of backslash knives on the snow. It gleaned with the light of the sun. Silvershot approached the knives and looked carefully at them. The knives looked like they could be strapped around Silvershot's forelegs so he wouldn't have to hold them with his magic or hooves. The curvature of the blades indicated that it could be used so the legs would simulate an actual sword as the blades would be the edges. With a single stamp of his hooves like his boots, which by the way were destroyed on Finn's ship, the blades could point outwards instead of backwards allowing for more maneuvering tactics.

"These blades. They were yours, weren't they?" Silvershot muttered. He strapped the knives to his legs. "That move where I vanished into thin air and then appeared behind a target, it was yours too, huh? The Fantasia Strike. I like that name."

Silvershot tightened the straps on the knives one last time and then entered the mine with the weight of Equestria on his shoulders and the faint glow of his magic light.

The first minute of walking Silvershot did, he felt confident he could face anything. Another minute passed and that confidence weakened. A third minute passed and Silvershot was feeling anxiety with the feeling that the light spell he conjured up was weakening. The fourth minute came and he thought he was hearing more voices than just Fantasia's and Armonia's. The fifth minute came and Silvershot wanted to click the backslash knives to cut his own throat.

As Silvershot sat in the darkness with his knives against his throat, he was thinking of actually ending of his fear with a single cut. The voices kept screaming his name. They were voices of his mother and father, his friends like Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, and a more scary thought was that he could hear Fortress’ voice.

The knives inched closer to his throat as the voices got louder. When the blade touched his throat but not cut through, one voice was distinctly louder than the others. She wasn't calling out his name but just yelling a word.

"No! No! No!" Said the familiar voice. It was the same voice that called out to him when he forgotten everything in his memories. The voice he heard was Applebloom's voice. "Don't give up!"

Silvershot threw his knives away from his throat. He realized what the first trap Armonia set in the mine. He placed a suicidal spell on the cave. It made sure that no pony could get any further than five minutes in walking distance without committing suicide. The only reason he survived the spell was because he realized it before committing suicide.

Silvershot countered the spell and watched as the darkness of the cave got whisked away. He could see the entire mine. The entire mine was carved from the inside of the Crystal Mountains so it was huge. There were mine cart tracks wrapping around stalagmites. Refinery machines were dead silent but Silvershot could see precious metals like gold, iron, and copper being processed within them.

There was the pitter-patter of hooves underneath the tracks and Silvershot knew he wasn't alone. Danja and her goons were marching everywhere in the mine. They tried to retrieve as much metal as possible from the mine before fleeing Equestria. According to her, a new world rule needed material to build upon.

Silvershot made sure he was ready for the fight of his life. He spread out his wings, got his blades ready, and prayed silently before jumping into the depths.

"Vorrei che per un po 'di buona fortuna," Silvershot prayed. "I wish for a bit of good luck."

Silvershot screamed to the top of his lungs to gather the attention of everypony in the mine. The scream echoed off the cavern walls with enough force that the stalactites on the ceiling nearly came off.

He dove off of his cliffside perch and landed in the middle of Danja's servants. There were Griffins and Zebras with guns, swords, and cannons. In the far back of the group was Danja. She had a rifle of her own that had a revolver's clip. She was smiling at Silvershot, thinking how it was impossible for him to stop her.

"Silvershot, you're finally here. A little late, but…," Danja said while laughing evilly. "Always a pleasure to have you join us for the end of your nation. Look at it like this, my friend. Ponies will explode into oblivion with the virus strand that I made from the element of sacrifice that Armonia so carelessly made. The zebras will rise from the ashes as the perfect race. With the mighty griffins at my side, we will be invincible!"

"Nopony will stand for this. There are other nations other than the ponies, griffins, and zebras," Silvershot yelled back. "They can stop you. I especially won't stand for this. Too many have died because of your crimes. Your crimes are punishable by death!"

Something unexpected happened. Silvershot's horn started glowing with magic. He wasn't casting a spell nor was he thinking of one. Something else was causing it. The image of Fantasia appeared behind Silvershot and she flickered just like before. She had her blades in the same fashion Silvershot did and she stood just like him too. Like Armonia did with Silvershot, she was mirroring him. Their voices spoke at the same time as if they were one pony.

"By the blood of my father, Armonia Fuoco Cavallo," Both Silvershot and Fantasia said. "I will end you!"

"I don't have time for this rubbish. Men!" Danja commanded. Take care of this foolish pony. I’ve got business to attend to in Ponyville."

There was ten minutes left before Danja could fully control the virus and kill everypony in Equestria. Ten minutes to fight off an entire army and chase down the culprit who started it all. Ten minutes before Silvershot could lose everything he ever loved. He wasn't going to back down. At least, if he was going to die, he would die fighting.

Fantasia disappeared once the fighting started. There were a million and one things Silvershot had to think about during the fight. He had to keep track of the gun zebras around him so he wouldn't take a bullet to the head. He had to keep track of the griffins who wielded swords and cannons so he wouldn't get chopped up or blown up. Every slice, cut, and dodging jump allowed Silvershot to get a little closer to Danja. A minute passed and a pile of either seriously injured enemies or dead ones piled around him.

"Requiescat in pace," Silvershot said to the dead before leaving. "May you rest in peace."

He wiped the blood off his blades and followed Danja down a mine shaft. He was forced to stop his chase at the end of a track. There was no more ground to walk on. Elevated train tracks above ground were the only way to continue traveling in the mine. Danja already took advantage of her lead and rode a mine cart to escape.

There was no way he could catch up to Danja. Teleportation magic wasn't his forte, so he couldn't just teleport to Danja's cart, nor could he fly because he wasn't the best flyer. The only way was the carting way. Silvershot pushed one of the mining carts down the tracks and jumped on. The force of gravity would push the cart down. It wasn't enough speed though. By the time Silvershot even got half way down the track, Danja would be at the end.

He needed more speed. He got this idea of an increased amount of speed from Scootaloo; the faster he flapped his wings, the faster he would go on wheels. The mine cart had wheels, he had wings; it was the perfect plan. He spread his wings apart and flapped them as hard as he could. The mine cart gained speed and any second he would catch up to Danja.

"I have to thank Scootaloo for this idea, even though she wasn't here to tell me about it," Silvershot said with a giddy tone. "And I still have to teach her how to fly with Rainbow Dash!"

Behind her, Danja could clearly hear Silvershot's audible voice and the screeching sounds of his mine cart. Immediately she turned around and aimed the iron sights of her gun at Silvershot. She fired all six of her shots in rapid succession. Silvershot ducked inside his cart to avoid all the shots.

While Danja reloaded her revolver, Silvershot recovered the lost speed with his wings. Danja kept stalling for time by firing more and more rounds, but each time was futile. Her pieces on the chess board were running out and only her king and queen were left, herself being the queen and her virus the king. Without her, the king was defenseless.

"What do you ponies call it?" Danja asked silently. The surrounding noises were louder than her so Silvershot didn't even hear anything she said. "In that one game? 'Checkmate'."

Silvershot got close enough that he could leap out of his cart and into Danja's. He was ready to kill her, and she was ready to die. She was so close achieving her dream but she knew Silvershot could stop her. She couldn't outrun justice. She wanted the ponies to die because they were selfish and greedy with power. They stole the element of sacrifice from her. With it, she could have brought the Zebra Kingdom to glory. Everypony knew it was wrong. A dream like Danja's wasn't worth millions of lives. No matter the reasoning.

Silvershot leaped out of his cart and lunged at Danja with his backslash blades pointed outward. He aimed the blades directly at her heart. The blades pierced Danja's chest and even pierced the side of the cart she had her back on. Danja gasped in pain, but she was still alive. He missed her heart by an inch.

Silvershot was so angry at Danja for what she has done; he wasn't going to give her a merciful death.

"That was for Finn! I know he was bad but he had a good heart! He was helpful to Armonia and he sacrificed his life to save my friends!" Silvershot screamed at her. He pulled out his blades from her chest and stabbed again. His anger kept making him miss her heart. "That was for Armonia!" Another stab. "For Celestia!" Stab. "For Equestria!" And another stab. "For Fortress!" And one last stab, but he didn't pull out his blade. "Any last words?"

"Death..." Danja muttered. "is only the beginning."

Silvershot twisted his blades in Danja and listened to the dying breath of his foe. He pulled the blades out of the body and detached them from his forelegs. They were stained with Danja's blood and all of her followers. There was a strange blood red aura emitting from the blades.

"Do you feel it Silvershot?" Fantasia's vice echoed in his head. "The thrill of killing? That's what I felt when I was alive. I craved the adrenaline rush. I know you liked that feeling. It's a good feeling. The sight of blood made me feel alive!"

"I will never be a murderer like you!" Silvershot said. "I hate killing. And that drink you were drinking earlier... it was blood, wasn't it?"

"I had another name you know. It was Equestria's Bloodwell." She was silent for a second. "You should watch out."

Silvershot completely forgot that he was still on a moving mine cart that was nearing the end of the tracks. A mine cart stopper was at the end and it halted the cart. It launched Silvershot out of the cart and onto a ventilation fan. The fan net stopped him from getting chopped up by the enormous fan. The second mine cart was stopped by the first and it was sent flying like Silvershot, and right at him too.

He crossed his hooves in front of him in order to protect all vital organs from the crashing mine cart. The mine cart missed Silvershot, but it hit something. It hit a lever.

He gave a bizarre look of confusion as he wondered what the lever did. The fan below him started to spin faster and faster. His wings picked up on the speed and it opened up without his control. He started to float from the increased air speed and was flying up in a ventilation shaft. His head crashed through a layer of dirt on the top of the shaft and landed on Venturia.

"Venturia?" Silvershot asked as he looked around. "I'm almost there."

He took flight towards Ponyville. On his way there, a stray newspaper hit his face. He took the newspaper and read it. It was the day's paper. He read the front page as he flew. There was a picture of Applebloom, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy with the two Princesses in the middle of all of them.

"A glorious day in Equestrian history! The elements of harmony have done it again; they have saved Equestria from complete peril," Silvershot read from the article. "After finding the last piece of the lost element of sacrifice, the wielder of the element of magic Twilight Sparkle was able to create a spell to stop the mysterious virus. Young Applebloom, responsible for retrieving the last piece of the element, had this to say during an interview at the castle, ‘I have to thank my friend Silvershot. He is the real hero. I just had to bring his hard work together’. Silvershot, wherever you are, everypony in Equestria has to thank you. You had helped in the preparation of the cure as anypony. Too bad we couldn’t get you in the front page. Where are you?”

“I’m heading to Ponyville,” Silvershot said to himself before reading on. “Princess Celestia has made arrangements for the destruction of the element of sacrifice as it was deemed to be the most dangerous weapon ever created. Princess Luna will be in charge in Canterlot as Princess Celestia will leave for a week long journey to properly destroy it. That’s all the information for now. Please wait for tomorrow’s paper for more information.”

By the time he’d finished reading the paper, he had arrived back in Ponyville. He could see a celebration from the sky. Ponies were celebrating in the town streets because they knew they were going to survive the virus. Musicians played violins, cellos, drums, and trumpets. Whole symphonies were written for the tremendous event. Performers like residential Wonderbolts and Pegasi acrobats were performing routine tricks for everypony to enjoy. It was an amazing event, but Silvershot couldn’t enjoy it. He had to find Fortress, and soon. He didn’t know if she’d made it through or not.

He touched down right in front of the hospital. It was calm around the hospital. Nopony was celebrating near the facility, probably out of respect for the sick. Silvershot opened the doors and asked to be permitted to Fortress’ room. He followed the attendant’s direction to it.

After turning some corners and hallways, he found Fortress’ room. Outside the doorway of the room was Pinkie Pie, who was carefully watching Fortress. She looked sad even though the virus had been destroyed and the Cake family should have been cured.

“Pinkie Pie? You’re here?” Silvershot called out. She turned her head towards Silvershot. “Where’s everypony?”

“They are inside the room,” Pinkie Pie replied as she walked towards him. She looked really sad with her curly hair straight again. “You missed it…”

“I missed what? Pinkie, what happened?”

“You missed cake.” She held out a slice of cake to Silvershot which already had a bite taken out of it. Pinkie Pie had a little frosting of that cake around her muzzle.

“Oh, you silly filly.” Silvershot gave her a slight noggie and watched her hair curl up again in joy. “How’s Fortress?”

“Oh, and you missed that. She gave birth while you were gone.”

“She did what? Merda Pinkie!”

He stepped around Pinkie Pie and went inside the room. Inside, all of his friends were around Fortress’ bed: Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Digger. At the foot of the bed were Applebloom and Spike, who were both were asleep.

And on the bed itself was Fortress, in all of her beauty. Her mane was tied back in a bun and she wore a medical gown underneath the bed covers. Cradled in her forelegs were two beautiful foal twins. The girl looked a lot like Silvershot with a very long grey mane that already covered one eye and a coat like ash. The boy was a lot like Fortress having a vibrant green coat with an even brighter green mane. Both of them were alicorns.

Silvershot was happy to be home.

Author's Note:

There! It is finally done! To Save Equestria: The Mysterious Virus is over. I would like to give thanks to f0xhole for his/her help in the editing of this book series. We have plans to continue this series in another story to officially make this a trilogy series. So don't forget to keep yourself update with this series with a like, favorite, and a watch. Thanks again for reading everypony and I'll see you later.

-KalaAWild(8/1/13)

P.S. I added a sneak peek chapter of the next story if you're interested. I worked really hard on it ;D