To Save Equestria: The Mysterious Virus

by KalaAWild

Chapter 2: Armonia Fuoco Cavallo

Chapter 2: Armonia Fuoco Cavallo

Images of the alicorn pulsated in Silvershot's mind as the Ponyville train moved to Canterlot. No matter what he tried to do to distract himself, he kept thinking of the alicorn. Who was he? How did he know Princess Celestia? When did she know of the element of sacrifice?

He constantly asked himself these questions and many more. He knew none of the answers to them and he only knew one pony who could answer them; Princess Celestia.

The train tracks were bumpy, and every bump caused Silvershot to fly a couple of inches off his seat. One of those bumps forced a suitcase from the luggage shelf above to crash to the floor. He dodged the falling suitcase and watched it hit the floor. The suitcase smashed open, and a yellow filly came out.

"Applebloom?" Silvershot said to the filly. "What are you doing here?”

"I wanted to come with you, Silvershot," Applebloom cheerfully replied. "I wanted to see if I could help you."

"What about Applejack? Don't you have to take care of her?"

"Yeah, but Granny Smith can take care of her."

It was already too late to send her back to Ponyville. They were only a minute away from Canterlot and there would be no way to send Applebloom home by herself. Silvershot, being kind hearted as he is, made a decision.

"Applebloom, you can come with me, if and only if," Silvershot gave her a STARE; it was the same thing Fluttershy gave to animals when she was serious. "You stay with me the entire time and you listen to everything I say. Got it?"

"Okay!"

Applebloom jumped off the floor and into Silvershot's seat. She curled up into a ball and laid her head softly on his lap. He patted her head with his hoof and continued to stare out the window.

"Why does the world keep secrets, I wonder." Silvershot said in his mind.

The grey alicorn and Princess Celestia calmly but surely strolled through the streets of Venturia Reign. The two did not talk, they did not look at each other; they did not even think about each other.
What they met for was something important that nopony should learn the secrets of. Wrapped around Celestia's neck was that ‘something'; it was the element of sacrifice.

"Why did you make me go to the Zebra kingdom to take that?" the alicorn asked Celestia. His helmet covered his eyes from making contact with her.

"I needed to make sure the zebras weren't lying about their claim of immortality," Celestia said back to him. She didn't look at him, either.

"That thing is dangerous. It levelled a city to the ground in an instant right before my very eyes."

"Then it's a good thing you managed to get the elemento del sacrificio"

"It's not a good thing when my sister was in the destruction of La Città del Commercio"

The princess stopped walking, but the alicorn just kept going. Celestia stared down at the element of sacrifice that was around her neck. A deadly weapon was in her possession and she didn't even give a single thought to the hell that the alicorn had gone through. She took the element of sacrifice off her neck and levitated it to him.

"I'm sorry about Velocità Cavallo," Celestia apologized to the alicorn. "I have one more task to give to you. Would you mind doing it?"

"I don't know. I am the last alicorn of the Cavallo family now, but what is it?"

The princess closed her eyes and gave herself a minute to think of the request in words the alicorn could comprehend. Her pink flowing mane softly waved itself against the wind as she thought about her request. When the words were pieced together like a puzzle, she asked him her favor.

"Armonia Fuoco Cavallo, bearer of the elemento della magia, will you accept the responsibility of destroying the elemento del sacrificio?"

---

Silvershot's eyes shot open as the train came to a stop at Canterlot station. He had a major headache from the memory he had just experienced. His questions from earlier were clearly answered by the memories, but more questions came to him.

Armonia Fuoco Cavallo, translated from Venturian as Harmony's Fiery Steed, was one of the first ponies to wield an element of harmony; the element of magic was the element he had control over. Who was he though, and how were Celestia and Silvershot connected to him?

Silvershot and Applebloom got off the train and headed toward the Canterlot castle. He couldn't help himself from feeling only rage inside him because of all the puzzling questions in his head.

His boots clanked against the ground as his hooves moved, which disrupted his train of thought. Applebloom trotted beside him and obeyed his command of never leaving his side. He looked to his left and right and saw the Canterlot Royal Guard in front of the castle gates. They stared at Silvershot as he and Applebloom passed by. A nervous chill ran down Silvershot's neck. He didn't know why they looked so menacing.

He turned his attention to the castle path again and was shocked to see something in front of him. A glowing, ghostly image of Armonia stood on the path. He was merely a figment of Silvershot's imagination, but it looked real enough. Silvershot thought he was experiencing another memory flashback, and he vigorously shook his head in different directions. When he looked back, Armonia was still there.

"Armonia?" Silvershot muttered. Armonia turned away from Silvershot and galloped to the castle. "Armonia! Wait!"

Silvershot followed the ghost of Armonia and Applebloom was behind him. What is the meaning of this?, Silvershot thought in his head. The ghost stopped at the doors of Celestia and Luna's throne room. Silvershot slowed down near him to call him.

"Armonia, is that you?" Silvershot asked.

"Talk to Celestia and ask her how she knows me. You'll learn something...something important," Armonia's voice told Silvershot.

The ghost faded into the doors of the throne room and disappeared into the wood. Silvershot reached his hoof to Armonia but he knew it would be of no use. At least for now, the ghost was gone.

"Silvershot, who’s Armonia?" Applebloom asked.

"I don't know for sure. We're about to find out," Silvershot said to the filly.

Silvershot planted both his hooves on the wooden doors and pushed with all his might. The doors budged slowly, but he added a little more strength and it slid right open. In the throne room, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had already commenced the council with Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.

"Princess Celestia!" Silvershot yelled to them. "Who is Armonia Fuoco Cavallo? And why did he have the element of sacrifice?!"

The princess' eyes locked onto Silvershot when she heard Armonia's name. She hadn't heard that name in over a thousand years, and it frightened her when she remembered.

Silvershot and Applebloom closed the throne room doors behind them and moved closer to the group of people. Tension filled the air as he got closer to everypony.

"How do you know that name?" Celestia questioned him. Her voice did not sound as pleasant as it was before.

"I got a memory from him. When were you going to tell me you knew about the element of sacrifice?"

"I didn't think it mattered until I saw it for myself nearly a thousand years later."

Silvershot stood firm and imposing in front of the princesses and his friends. He couldn't decide whether to be angry or calm to the princess. His memories were slowly blending with a random pony he didn't even know, and his wife was slowly dying. One by one, his friends were getting sick too. Why should he be calm?

"Just tell me who Armonia Fuoco Cavallo is. I keep seeing him in my memories."

"He's your atenato."

"Wait, Armonia Cavallo? As in the Armonia Fuoco Cavallo, who single-hoofedly defeated the Griffith Armada? What did Princess Celestia say about him?" Twilight Sparkle asked Silvershot.

"Armonia is my ancestor," Silvershot responded after translating the Venturian word Princess Celestia said.