Chapter 11: Meeting the Doctor

After nearly a week of exhausting travel and hiding from infected, Canterlot was finally in sight. To the travel-weary ponies, it looked like a golden gate to heaven, and with their spirits refreshed, they picked up the pace with renewed vigor. By sundown, they were within the safe confines of Canterlot City. There was a little hassle with the Guards over letting so many new ponies in, but eventually, they were granted access. Rainbow Dash was guessing it was because Twilight was with them.

Twilight immediately went to greet the Princess. Rainbow Dash followed; she really wanted to know how the testing was going, with the zombie she had captured. Upon seeing Celestia's top student, the Entrance Guards immediately allowed her inside, but barred the entrance from Rainbow Dash.

"Hey! What gives?" voiced a very annoyed Rainbow Dash.

"It's ok, she's with me," Twilight informed the Guards. With a grunt, they opened up the entryway, and the two mares continued walking.

The Royal Castle looked so empty without all the Nobles and what-not. Rainbow Dash could guess what happened; Princess Celestia had told her about the attack Canterlot had suffered, before the force field was up. Twilight, however, had yet to find out.

Celestia greeted the duo when they entered her throne room. She looked exceptionally happy to see Twilight, still breathing. Rainbow Dash trotted over to one of the stained glass windows while the two were catching up, and became lost in thought. At first, she worried about Princess Luna. Had her symptoms developed? Dash knew it was slower for her. Was she in pain? And when she turned, would she have the power of a goddess? While Dash dwelled on the matter, another thought came to mind. Maybe the Princess could use her powers to do one last thing of good, and fight the undead. If she saved the Quarantine Zones, maybe Canterlot could build up an army from the survivors, clear out the towns, and save Equestria. The thought of a holocaust, whether it was necessary or not, made Rainbow Dash a little sick to her stomach. However, she knew that these things were already dead and rotting, and that a cure would be useless on them. That could be the only solution...

"Rainbow Dash? I understand you wish to speak with me?" Celestia's voice cut through Dash's emotions and thoughts, and she quickly snapped back to reality.

"Uh... yeah. About the research that's being conducted... how's it going?" questioned Dash.

"We're making amazing progress, but there's still a lot of ground to cover. I hear that Doctor Test Tube found something interesting. I can have my Guards show you the way, should you wish to speak with him."

"Yeah, that'd be great... how's Princess Luna doing?"

Celestia let out a weak sigh. "Her condition is worse. The fever is frighteningly high, at one hundred and six degrees. Now, her eyes have turned bloodshot and her breathing's forced. However, those conditions have been seen in average victims at three hours after infection."

"Sorry to hear that... I think I'll go talk to the Doctor now."

"As you wish. Iron Spear, Silver Wing, show her the way."

"Yes, Your Highness," responded a white Pegasus. With him was a light gray unicorn. Both wore the shiny golden armor that all Guards had. "Right this way, Ms. Dash."

The two Guards led her through a maze of brightly lit and beautifully decorated hallways. They stopped at a small oak door.

"Right in there," Iron Spear informed.

"You might want to put these on," warned Silver Wing, handing Rainbow Dash a lab coat and a P100 mask. "The scientists in there don't like taking risks; they still don't know if an airborne mutation happened right under their noses, and if you go in there with no protection, they'll take you and put you into quarantine."

"Thanks," stated Rainbow Dash, donning the lab coat and slipping on the mask. She pressed the mold to fit her face, then slowly opened the oak door. It produced a rather loud creaking noise, and when she closed it, the weight of the door caused it to slam. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Dash was confronted by two ponies wearing full Hazardous Material (HazMat) suits.

"Stop! What the hell do you think you're doing here?" yelled the one on the left, obviously annoyed by her presence in the lab.

"Celestia sent me to speak with Doctor Test Tube," Rainbow Dash responded, coolly. "So would you pretty please let me through?"

"Alright, no need to get cocky. You can find him in the Subject Testing Room, 206," said the pony on the right.

Rainbow Dash trotted by, and when she was out of ear shot of the two, she said under her breath, "assholes." Following their directions, Dash arrived at a room. The room had a sign by the door, that read: 206. Under the number, it said: Subject Testing.

Looks like this is the room, Rainbow Dash thought to herself. Taking a breath of filtered air, she brought her hoof up to the door and knocked loudly. After a couple of seconds, Dash heard a soft click, and the door opened, revealing an old brown Earth Pony, wearing a lab coat and mask, similar to Rainbow Dash's. His cutie mark was a glass tube, filled with a purple fluid.

"Yes? Can I help you, miss?" the doctor's voice was rough and scratchy with age. His facial expression was that of mild annoyance. Behind him, Rainbow Dash could see two ponies with HazMat suits, both poking a zombie with various objects. Dash recognized the zombie; it was the one she had brought in for testing.

"Princess Celestia told me you have an update on whatever's affecting these ponies?" Rainbow Dash answered, curious.

"Ah, yes!" he shouted, excitement taking over the annoyance. "I took a sample of that black fluid, and put it under a microscope. Turns out, that stuff is a result of body fluids mixing together, with some very small cells that are produced by the disease. Well, that vile fluid is just crawling with it; I've found that it's a new breed of virus. It would be quite an extraordinary discovery, if Equestria's situation was a slight bit better. How does the infection process work, you may ask? Well, once the bug's inside of ya', it travels via blood flow to the brain. Within three days, it takes over your brain stem, spinal cord, and through that, your entire body. Your heart fails soon after; we're guessing it's the virus's doing.

"And then, that pesky little illness forms a connection with your brain. It takes full control over your entire body, but since you're now dead, it no longer has a source of nutrients to keep the virus cells alive. Therefore, it uses the body to find food. Right now, we have no idea why it favors living ponies over ordinary food. The bigger problem, however, is a cure- it'll require us to use something that can remove unwanted cells from your brain. Currently, we have nothing that can do that without killing your brain with the virus. The only real cure we know results in the death of the patient. Most frighteningly, we've discovered that it's on the brink of another mutation. We're hoping it makes it less deadly, but since we have no knowledge on this new virus whatsoever, for all we know, it could give it supernatural freakin' powers! Anything that makes this more critical will likely result in the extinction of the pony race. I have a team of scientists working around the clock to find out where this came from, and how it has a connection with these damned storm clouds all over the place!"

"Wow... this is serious. How long do you think we have before it mutates?"

"Judging from our test results, I'd have to say... eta five days."

"Five days? That's it? Do you think you can engineer a vaccine by then?"

"I hate to break your spirits, but I highly doubt it."

"There's nothing you can do? So we all have to sit and hope it doesn't cause any more problems?"

"Hate to say, but yes, that's all anypony can do."

"Damn... I better tell the Princess. Her sister's infected, after all."

"I know about Luna. Damn shame."

"That it is..." Rainbow Dash let out a soft sigh, and turned away. "Thank you for the information, Doctor, and sorry for interrupting your research."

"It's fine, darlin'. We don't have much else to do anyways; we're running out of supplies and our equipment is barely running."

Rainbow Dash's ears perked up. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I'm not sure you can handle it... there was an... accident, out near the eastern part of the Everfree. A huge amount of top grade medical supplies and equipment; a shipment from the zebra land. I had Celestia send out a team of those Guards of hers. That was about five days ago. They're still gone; we sent them with a chariot, it should've taken a day at the most! I fear the worst... after all, that region is known to be infested with the infected. And I mean infested. I couldn't send such a beautiful young mare like you into there."

"Can it, old man. I can handle myself better than you think. I'll be going when I have the chance."

Test Tube sighed. "Alright... be careful. I'd hate to see you get infected."

"I'll be fine. I'll give you the supplies when I get the chance."

"Excellent. You're doing a great thing!"

Rainbow Dash smiled and left the lab, returning to Celestia and Twilight. Twilight was sitting on the ground, levitating a cup of tea.

"-she found me in the Chrystal Empire. I swear, she gave me a heart attack! I was so worried about my friends, before she found me. Then we took a train to PonyVille, and found Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Rarity had-well... she and Spike-..." Twilight was telling Celestia the story of her survival, and on her last few words, she started to tear up.

"It's alright Twilight..." Celestia tried to comfort her student. "We've all lost something."

"Hello!" Rainbow Dash yelled, making herself known, as she trotted into view. "I found out some things on this virus. It apparently takes over your brain, and kills ponies to supply the virus with nutrients, since the host is dead, and can't be a source. They aren't anywhere near a cure. Oh, and it'll mutate in five days," Rainbow Dash tried to seem cheerful, but she didn't know if she succeeded.

"That's terrible!" gasped Twilight.

"Yeah... I'm going to go talk to the others," responded Dash. She wanted to see how the rest of the group was faring. Dash trotted outside, and immediately spotted Pinkie Pie. To her great relief, her hair had poofed back up, and Pinkie was once again wearing a large smile on her face.

"Oh, hey Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie bounced over to Rainbow Dash.

"Hi," Dash responded.

"How are you? Is the Princess ok? Isn't this city great?"

"Good, yes, and yes. How are you, Pinkie?"

"I'm good. The bite I got in the bakery at PonyVille healed up!"

Dash's jaw dropped. "Y-you were bit?"

"Well, sort of. It was an itsy-bitsy little snip, didn't even hurt! And I would be sick if it was a real bite, right, Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah, I guess that's right. Why didn't you tell anypony?"

"I don't know. I was just really really really really sad. You saved my life, didn't you?"

"Yeah, me and Applejack!"

"Thanks!" Pinkie wrapped her arms around Rainbow Dash, locking her into a giant, crushing hug.

"G-g-good to h-have you back, P-Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash had to force out the words; she couldn't breathe.

"You are such an awesome friend!"

"T-thanks! P-Pinkie, I c-c-can't b-breathe!"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Pinkie lessened her grip, but kept up the hug. Rainbow Dash wrapped her right arm around Pinkie's shoulder, patting her back. After a few minutes, they let go of each other.

"Where's AJ and Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked calmly.

"Fluttershy went to the Gardens to see the animals. Applejack went to buy some apples. She said she wanted to taste an apple one more time," Pinkie answered enthusiastically.

"Thanks. I'm gonna go catch up with them." Rainbow Dash didn't want to spoil Pinkie's good mood with the news about the mutation. Instead, she went along and, with help from wandering civilians, found the apple stand. Applejack was staring at a bright red apple, sadness lingering in her eyes. She didn't notice Rainbow Dash when she walked over and sat beside her.

"Y'all right?" Rainbow Dash questioned, concerned. Applejack jumped.

"Y-yeah, it's just... reminds me o' home. Before all this happened, y'know? It reminds me of my family," Applejack responded, gesturing towards the apple. "Ah wish Ah could go back ta' buckin' apples and bein' with y'all."

"Everypony wishes things were back to normal. We can't let any of this get to us,"

"Ah know, sugarcube. It's just... Ah'm tired. Ah don't know how long Ah can fight off that feelin', that feelin' that we're all doomed."

"You're the strongest pony I know. You can hold out."

Applejack sighed. "Yeah... yer' right. Ah have to keep goin'. Fer' mah family..." a small tear rolled down her cheek. Rainbow Dash put her hoof on Applejack's back.

"I have to go talk to Fluttershy. She's probably not doing too well... will you be ok?"

"Of course, darlin'. Thank you."

Rainbow Dash nodded and took off for the Canterlot Gardens. Fluttershy was spotted almost immediately; she was laying on the grass, speaking softly to a small squirrel.

"Hi, Fluttershy. How're ya' holdin' up?" Rainbow Dash trotted over to where her yellow friend was conversing with her animal friend. Fluttershy squeaked and jumped, then turned, while blushing with embarrassment, and greeted Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, hi Rainbow Dash. I was just talking to my little friend here. How're you?"

"I'm fine. You never did tell me what happened to you when this whole thing started."

"Oh..." Fluttershy looked uncertain. "I got terribly sick that night. I tried to go to the hospital, but I was too weak to move. I was throwing up this disgusting black stuff. My critter friends were so worried about me... I ended up falling asleep. In the morning, somepony knocked. I didn't want to answer, because I was embarrassed about the mess I had made, and I didn't want anypony to see it. He kept knocking and knocking, hitting the door really hard. I started to get scared; I thought he was going to rob me! So I snuck out the back door, taking Angel with me, and I flew away, as fast as I could! When I got back to PonyVille, I saw the whole town was acting strange, so I hid, until Applejack found me. And here I am!"

"Wow, Fluttershy. You got pretty lucky. Where's Angel?"

"Oh... uh... well... while we were hiding, I couldn't get him any food, so he ran away..." Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry.

"It's ok, Fluttershy. You don't need to say any more. You got us, now. And we're safe."

Fluttershy smiled weakly. "I know... and you are the most wonderful friends ever." She gave Dash a brief hug, and went back to talking to the squirrel, who was looking warily at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash didn't tell any of her friends about her mission. She didn't want them to worry about her; they were dealing with enough stress as it was.

Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes, and waited a bit for them to adjust to the darkness. Princess Celestia had given her and her friends a spare bedroom. Soarin, Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were all sleeping soundly. Rainbow dash slipped out of bed, as quietly as possible, and tip-trotted out of the bedroom. The hallways outside were dimly lit, and completely devoid of life. Rainbow Dash, still trying to be quiet, sneaked down the hall, towards the exit. She stopped when she heard voices from around a corner, coming her way.

Oh crap! she thought, and frantically looked for a hiding place. Luck was on her side, as she spotted a bright marble pillar. If she squeezed behind it, the two Guards would never spot her, unless they were really searching for hiding ponies. Which they ere not.

Rainbow Dash smiled and slipped behind the pillar. It was the opposite of comfortable; Dash was being smashed between hard marble and cold stone, but it was worth not getting caught. The Guards walked on by, completely oblivious. Dash waited until she was sure they were gone, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. It took a little effort to slip out of the hiding place, and it created a little bit of noise, but thankfully, nopony was in earshot, and Dash remained undetected.

Then came the real challenge. The doors to the Castle. Rainbow Dash took almost an hour opening and closing the gates, because their size also made them really loud. Finally, she was in the clear. The Guards at the force field let her through without question. Rainbow Dash had grabbed several large saddlebags to hold the supplies before she left, and once she was out of Canterlot, Dash took to the air and flew to the Everfree, almost fast enough for a Sonic Rainboom. The entire journey took about four hours. Finally, she spotted a large carriage, laying in pieces on the ground, right at the edge of the Everfree. The burn marks made it look like it was hit with a spell... but it wasn't Dash's position to figure out what really happened. What mattered was what the carriage contained, and how it could potentially save all of Equestria.

However, she couldn't just take it. No, that would be way too easy, right? There were infected everywhere. At least a hundred of them, and they were all over the carriage. There were several white metal boxes lying on the ground, all of them having a red cross on them. Along with that, she could spot medical tubes, syringes, and chemical bottles full of unknown liquids everywhere. This was like a gold mine!

Now, what to do about them... Dash pondered several possible solutions, before her eyes came across a dead body, obscured from the infected's view by a couple of bushes. Dash just had to hope it was still fresh enough to be appetizing for the undead. Shuddering, she swooped down and grabbed it's arms, lifted it up into the air, and dropped it, about twenty yards away from the carriage. The body's impact on the ground produced a loud THUMP. Most of the zombies turned their heads and moved to the corpse, though some of them stayed where they were. Dash knew she could handle them easily, and dive-bombed her first target. After breaking it's neck, she turned and punched the next one in the jaw, ripping it off and knocking the zombie onto a small tree. It was impaled by a branch, and was thus made immobile. Rainbow Dash picked up a rock and beat the third zombie down. Another one grabbed her arm, startling her. She shook her arm violently, causing the zombie to lose his grip. However, another one grabbed her from behind. She put her left forehoof on it's forehead, keeping it from ripping a chunk out of her shoulder. The other zombie she had shook off took it's chance and tried to get her. Panic took over her mind, and she flailed her legs. The zombie in front of her took a powerful kick to it's soft belly, ripping several organs out and stunning it.

The zombie behind her roared in frustration and put in more effort. The zombie in front recovered and came in for the kill. Dash let out another kick, ripping the zombie's head off. Dark crimson blood splashed out, and when the zombie hit the ground, a very large puddle had already formed around it's neck and shoulder. Rainbow Dash elbowed the one behind her with her right arm, knocking it down. She turned and stomped it's head in, leaving red string-like material all over her hoof. The commotion attracted two more undead. She grabbed a broken tree branch off the ground and swung at both of them, smiling at the cracking noise the impacts produced. Both infected dropped to the ground, brains showing. Taking the opportunity, Dash started tossing supplies and medical equipment into the saddlebags. She had her doubts that it would all fit in, but she managed, and made one last sweep to make sure she didn't miss anything important. Looking up, Rainbow Dash realized that the undead had finished eating the body, and were returning to their spot. They obviously saw Dash, as they were whooping and roaring, and were moving a fast as their rotting limbs could manage.

"Oh shit!" she cursed, and took off into the air. Flying was more difficult and tiresome because of the added weight, but adrenaline and fear kept her going, and she reached Canterlot at sunrise. The Guards eyed the saddlebags suspiciously, but once they saw what they contained, they let Dash through without hesitation. She again snuck through the Castle, this time to the labs, then threw on the coat and mask, and rushed through the door. The two jerk-offs at the bottom let her through this time, after recognizing Dash. She found Test Tube in the same room, and tossed him the saddlebags. Test Tube opened them, and upon seeing what they contained, formed the biggest smile Rainbow Dash had ever seen.

"You did it! I can't believe this! We all owe you our lives... you just helped every pony that still draws breath in this world!" Test Tube was jumping up and down, doing a little dance of happiness, despite his age.

"I had a little trouble, but I'm fine. Make that count," she returned, smiling. Test Tube grabbed her and gave her a big bear hug, almost crushing her to death.

"Right. And now to start on that cure..."

Author's Note

You guys thought I forgot about Pinkie getting bit in Chapter 2? Nope!

Woo, a lot of dialogue in this chapter... there's some action, too, though. I'm happy with this. Let me know what you think in the comments!