Sweetie was swaying and struggling to keep upright. This wasn’t a good sign. She had voiced her displeasure at being pulled out of bed, but was too weak to do much more than moan, then fall asleep on Rarity’s back.
Now they were waiting patiently for the doctor to finish his analysis.
“Well, I have some good news,” the stallion said at last.
“Yes?”
“She’s not a dragon!”
“…Ah yes, Twilight told me about you,” she said, shaking her head. “Can you please tell me what’s wrong with my sister?”
“It seems to be a simple case of the flu… a rather strong one, though. She’ll need bed rest and plenty of liquids.”
“…That’s it? Shouldn’t she be getting some medicine?”
The doctor slapped his forehead. “Oh right, medicine! I keep forgetting that part!”
“…Look, can I talk to somepony else?”
“Young lady, I assure you, I’m an expert on medicine,” the doctor said, pointing to his degree on the wall. There it was, Dr. Malpractice of Stable University.
“…Did you… pick that name when you got your cutie mark?”
"Oh yes, I thought it sounded cool." He began to write out a prescription. "Now you'll need to give her about a teaspoon of what I'm perscribing every hour... or was it tablespoon? Eh, Nurse Redheart can sort that out.”
Rarity, praying the nurse was more competent than the doctor, lifted her sister back onto her back. "Don't worry, I'm taking you straight home, and you can get some sleep."
The smaller Unicorn shivered against her sister's back. "I'm scared."
"Don't worry, Sweetie, big sister's going to take care of you, everything's going to be just fine."
“I feel so… cold…”
Sweetie pressed her face into Rarity’s back, wettening her mane with sweat and tears. Rarity felt her heart sink.
“Cold? You were burning up this morning…”
“I’m sure that’s nothing to worry about,” Malpractice waved a hoof. “Foals usually exaggerate things when they’re that sick. She’ll be fine.”
“But look at her!”
“Well, is she used to being sick?”
“…Well, no.”
“See? It’s simply a new experience for her. She’ll be fine with a little rest.”
Once again, Celestia and Luna were back in their old home, looking through the catacombs they used to wander.
“What exactly are we looking for?’
“When those ponies left us the mirror, they left behind a bundle of other things, remember?” Celestia poked her head in another door, then shut it after seeing another food storage room.. “After I left, I only took the mirror. My mind was… preoccupied.”
Luna nodded. “And where did you keep them?”
“In a storage room on this level. I know it was down here… I just can’t remember which one.” She opened another door. “Well… this is storage. We might as well start looking.”
The two sisters went in different directions. Luna reached a crate, prying the top off with one swift motion. There was nothing but rotten strands of rope and moldy old cloth.
“Do you really think that we’ll find anything there we wouldn’t have noticed when we received it? Or that the ponies we employed to archive it would not have?”
“I’m not sure, but I need to keep looking. I…” she stopped, wondering if she should really go on.
“You’re too worried about Twilight Sparkle, aren’t you?”
Celestia stopped searching through her own crate. Then she hung her head. “Twilight’s Creator-knows-where and likely in terrible danger, and I’m here, still living comfortably.”
“You call this living comfortably? We’re having to keep thousands of nobles from killing each other.”
Despite herself, Celestia couldn’t help but smile. “Perhaps... I just miss the old days, when we were the forefront whenever there was a threat...”
“You aren’t the only one. I remember hating it, but now... I suppose I wouldn’t mind staying behind a desk, if there weren’t other ponies on the front lines.”
“I know… Twilight being gone… it’s driving me crazy. I know I shouldn’t worry, but…”
Before she knew it, Luna had draped her wing over her sister. “You worry because you care. I know nothing I say can change that. But you’ll be doing everything you can for her until she returns. That includes keeping Equestria running smoothly, and perhaps finding where this mirror came from. Maybe you’ll find something, and maybe you won’t, but either way, have faith that she’ll return to you unharmed.”
Celestia, who was starting to tear up, nodded. “I will.”
Luna sighed with relief that her sister was so agreeable. “Now then, I hope you’ll be content with turning over whatever we find to historians and leaving the work to them. You have a kingdom to run.”
“I will, Luna, I promise.”
The chariot ride back from Canterlot was a tense affair.
“Dashie? Come on, I said I was sorry.”
“That doesn’t make everything better!”
“It wasn’t so bad…”
“You took out that entire table! I’ll bet that one guy is going to limp for life!”
“Well, the waiter was acting suspicious. Did you see how much he was sweating…”
“That’s because you were shining that bright light in his face! And yelling at him! And shaking him while vowing that you would get the information you needed!”
“Hmmm… maybe I did come on too strong…”
“You think?” Dash rubbed her head. Taking another deep breath, she spoke. “Pinkie, these ponies aren’t criminals, they’re suspects. You need to cool yourself down, they might not have done anything wrong.”
“But you talked that way to Twilight when you met her.”
Rainbow Dash actually stopped at that. Then she grimaced. In retrospect, there was no way Twilight could have been a spy, even knowing as little as she did.
“Yeah, well, I shouldn’t have. Remember what happened with the MMMM?”
Now Pinkie seemed to deflate at that. “Oh yeah. I guess… I guess I got a little too excited…”
Rainbow Dash rubbed her head. “Tomorrow I’m getting Applejack to come with me. I don’t care what excuse she gives me, if I have to hogtie her and drag her there, she’s coming.”
“I don’t think Applejack would like that…”
“I don’t care!” Rainbow Dash’s calm was gone, and she was throwing her forelegs in the air in exasperation. “She can take a day off to come help me! If she needs work done, she can hire help!”
“But aren’t the Apples against that? The whole ‘we depend on ourselves’ and…”
“And it’s led to nothing but trouble, hasn’t it?” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “Remember Applebuck season? Or the Flim Flam incident? I don’t care what Applejack says, I’m going to send a message to Canterlot tonight. Tomorrow there’s going to be workers at Sweet Apple Acres, and Applejack is coming to Canterlot.”
Pinkie shifted. “I don’t know… Applejack can be as stubborn as Cranky.”
“Well, she better. Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Cranky around lately…”
”Matilda, I’m going out for a walk,” Cranky said. The smile on his face brightened as he opened his front door.
He was treated to hundreds of Mirror Pool clones hopping around Ponyville.
“Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!”
“Run! I mean, fun!”
Cranky calmly closed the door. Then, turning on one heel, he walked into his bedroom.
“Cranky?” Matilda called.
He failed to react. He simply crawled under his bed and assumed the fetal position, his smile never leaving his face.
“Eh, I’m sure he’ll turn up.”
Nurse Redheart, thankfully, was more competent. After checking the prescription, she rewrote it for the correct amount and dosage.
Rarity took her sister home and tucked her in, promising a glass of milk and some soup before she went to sleep. She reached her kitchen and ended up stopping at her refrigerator, seeing a horn written note that wasn’t there this morning.
We won tickets for a tour of Manehattan. Take care of your sister until we get back
- Mom & Dad
Rarity nearly bent her refrigerator door handle in half after reading the note. Sweetie wasn’t home last night and they hardly seemed to care.
Despite how unlady like it was, she couldn’t help but growl. Here she was, still a young mare, having to act like a parent because her real parents decided they deserved to live up their retirement, nevermind their children.
She opened her fridge and grabbed what she needed. She did her work in silent anger, trying not to think of her parents.
Sweetie wasn’t hungry, but Rarity made her eat anyway. Then she gave her another bath. The younger sibling moaned once about it, then stayed silent while Rarity lathered her mane and coat.
She was out the moment she hit the pillow. As she dozed, Rarity covered her and kissed her goodnight.
She was halfway out the door when she heard it. A faint muttering, coming from her little sister.
She approached her, leaning close to hear.
“Mu… mom…”
It was like another dagger through her heart. She kissed her sister again. “Mother and Father can’t be here, Sweetie. I’m doing the best I can.”
Sweetie squirmed under the covers, then seemed to calm down. Rarity gave her one more kiss, then left her to her sleep.
Then she headed for the work area. With all the work she missed, it looked to be a long night.
Gilda opened the door to her apartment. Her muscles ached and her wings were sore, but wearing heavy armor and patrolling all day did that to anygriffon.
She had taken two steps into her home when she realized somepony was already there.
“Ah, you’re back…” Trixie said. She was sitting on Gilda’s couch, reading a magazine as if it were her home. “And thank goodness, you Griffons have the most boring tastes.”
“Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?”
In response to this, Trixie put the magazine down and got to her hooves. “Nothing much, I just thought you might like to hear my offer…”
Gilda went forward, but hit an invisible wall. As she stepped back, rubbing her beak, the door behind her closed, locking in place.
“Forgive Trixie, but after that last encounter she’s not taking any chances. I wouldn’t bother calling for help, either…”
“Who are you?”
“Haven’t you heard? I’m the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
“Never heard of you, get out!”
“Aw, you’re not even going to hit Trixie out?” She tilted her head in a coy pose.
“You broke into my house, you crazy…”
Suddenly Gilda felt her beak being forced shut.
“I’m sorry, but that squawking was giving Trixie a headache. Now then, Trixie has come to offer you the chance for revenge.”
Gilda actually arched an eyebrow at this. “Whut?”
Trixie actually released Gilda’s beak to allow her to talk again. “Revenge against Rainbow Dash.”
“…Why?”
Trixie was shocked at that answer. “Why? She abandoned you! Don’t you want to make her pay for her disloyalty?”
“I don’t care.” Gilda’s voice waivered a bit. Just the slightest bit. “I really don’t care if Rainbow Dash decided she’d rather hang out with those ponies than me. She’s not worth my time.”
Trixie was silent for a moment. “Is that your final answer?”
“What are you, deaf? Yes!”
Trixie was silent for a few more moments. Then, she lit up her horn. A ball of dark energy formed in front of her, which quickly formed itself into a black coin bearing Trixie’s cutie mark.
“When you change your mind, and it is a question of when, simply clutch the coin and say your name. Trixie will be with you shortly afterward.” She lowered the coin onto the nearby kitchen counter. “And don’t try telling anyone Trixie was here. Don’t think she doesn’t have her ways of keeping her eyes on you.”
With that, Trixie lit up her horn again. With a flash of dark energy, she was gone.
Gilda sat there for a good five minutes, making sure she was gone. Then she grabbed the coin, opened her door, and gave it a toss. Being a good throw, it sailed far out of sight.
This is why it came as a surprise when she turned and saw the coin still sitting on her counter.
She felt her heart race at this. She had been planning to run and tell the police about what happened. Not because she cared about Rainbow Dash, she told herself, but because Trixie could be a threat to her personally. But… this coin… was this how Trixie was going to keep an eye on her?
Finally, she picked up the coin again and dropped it in a silverware drawer. She needed to think about what to do.”
Celestia had found it.
Laying across the crate in front of them was what the ponies had left behind. A simple bronze amulet featuring a rainbow… the Rainbow of Light, likely… an old book, written in a language older than old Equestrian, and a sketch of a strange creature. It looked like a human, though the proportions were off. It was too short, and it had the longest, whitest beard they had ever seen on anyone.
“We had the scholars look this over,” Luna pointed out. “The book was never translated. What makes you think it can be translated now?”
“We’ve had advancements in understanding the time before the three tribes since you left. Maybe it will be enough.”
“I surely hope so,” Luna nodded. Her eyes glanced over the sketch. “I presume you still think this is the Moochick?”
Celestia nodded. “It has to be. The legends describe him as looking vaguely human-like.”
Both sisters still found looking at the sketch surreal. This was supposedly the same being that gifted the Rainbow of Light onto Megan, and the one who built Paradise Estates. To see him looking so… plain, was baffling. Still…
“The legends say he was immortal. Do you suppose that’s true?”
“Perhaps… but it hardly matters. I doubt he’d show up now, and we can’t spare any resources looking for him.”
“Then let’s get this back to the castle. If our historians find something, maybe it will lead to something that can help Twilight Sparkle.”
Lightning Dust had been reading through the newspaper when Trixie teleported in. She looked up just long enough to lift her eyebrow. “Well? Where is she?”
“She said no,” said Trixie, unconcerned. She simply trotted to the fridge to fetch a drink. It seemed with the Amulet, a few hypnosis spells were enough for a night’s stay in a hotel, provided it was far enough out of the way.
“Then what are we going to do? You said we needed something to match the Earth Pony.”
“Indeed we do, but the griffon was only my first choice. It won’t be too hard to find a thug or two to take her place. Believe we, we’ll be ready to move soon enough.”
Poor sweetie, ponyville really needs a better doctor but I hope he's more or less right, I'm starting to hate Mr and Mrs bell though they're making scootaloos folks look like model parents.
Come on Gilda turn out to be a decent griffin, don't join the obviously corrupt and crazy Trixie.
...I was literally just looking over the final fight in Families when I heard my e-mail alert sound.
I guess some places there just isn't anypony else.
Nice to see Luna be the comforting one for a change.
...And Trixie continues to assemble the Legion of Doom.
Gilda's some kind of guard? Summer Days reference?
Good update and glad your still at it. Though I wonder if Gilida would have accepted if Trixie offered revenge against Pinkie Pie isntead of Rainbow Dash, since the earth pony was the one that ruined it for her even before Rainbow Dash broke their freindship. Probably in a warp way, she would think Pinkie Pie was the one to break the freinship in the first place. Oh well, keep up the good work.
Still wondering whose Applejack main rivial will be... since the second in comannd/leader would need one as well and Twilight has one in the weak and usless Trixie. Maybe a rivial family that we havn't meet in the serries, sort of fueding farmers.
Fluttershy, no idea, though it be funny in this version Rarity's arch enemy is Blueblood.
I hope Dr. Malpractice is soon be sued for his namesake. I know if that quack talked like that about one of my family members, I'd be slipping his name to some sort of medical authorities on my way to see someone COMPETENT.
Why does this character feel like something from Futurama?
And man, you weren't kidding about Rarity's and Sweetie's parents, they are downright idiotic.
Dr. Malpractice, REALLY? Poor Sweetie Belle. Poor Cranky. What did Pinkie do? Huh, I expected Gilda to jump at a chance to get revenge on Rainbow.
I agree with Rianbow Dash 100% on this. Applejack needs to step up and take charge in Twilight's abscence, not shirk repsonsibility and pass her duties onto everyone else. A real leader puts others before themselves!
4939423 I know. And it really bugs me because whereas we've never seen Scootaloo's parents onscreen, we've seen Mr. and Mrs. Belle, and they really don't look like the kind of parents that would neglect or abandon their kids. Even if their only reason for existing was so Rarity wouldn't seem like Sweetie Belle's mother they still deserve more love.
4939564 I'm thinking, probably the Flim Flam brothers. They're on the run, and they'd probably be desperate enough to join forces with Trixie and Lightning Dust. Or perhaps, Iron Will, even though I don't think he has any sort of bad blood with Fluttershy, so he'd likely have to be brainwashed.
4939757 Yeah, I know that Sweetie Belle's illness is probably more unusual than first appearance lets on, but the fact that Sweetie Belle's temperature changed so radically over the course of a few hours should be cause for concern for any doctor. That sort of thing isn't natural, even for a first time flu victim.
Enjoying the story so far and looking forward to the next update.
Though there is one minor nitpick:
I think you meant to use the word "hear" instead of "hit" in that sentence.
Both the digging into the past storyline and the daily life in Ponyville are very intriguing, but my prefernce tends slightly towards the digging into the past one. What can i say, im a sucker for tieing things together.
Oh, and of course the Trixie plot. Come on Gilda prove your not a total jerk!
4940116 At the very least, prove that you're not obessed with revenge. As the old saying goes "Two wrongs don't make a right."
I hope Sweetie recovers...
Can't say that I blame Cranky.
It's not often you see a medical professional who makes Dr Zoidberg look competant, is it?
4941312 Yeah, one Pinkie Pie was more than he could handle. A whole army of them would be a nightmare.
Don't think I've commented on this story yet, it's quite different from how you advertised it being, even if you said Twilight and Spike would be away (for another reason) but also that events from Season 3 would play out differently or something. With Sunset Shimmer and the mirror to human version of the ponies being in Canterlot, plus only opening once a month. I dunno if we'll get to see later just how Twilight's faring in a chapter or two, but the Equestrian side is getting a bit interesting.
It is strange that Trixie still has remnants of the Alicorn Amulet's dark power flowing through her, but it makes her revenge seem like it is sort of, not of her own sound mind? I guess... And is recruiting others that the Mane 6 have humiliated, though apparently Trixie will be disappointed if she learns Twilight's gone for (what I assume is) the majority of this story. So far Lightning Dust and Gilda, even if the latter turned her down... and she already recruited one that Rainbow Dash has irked, by the time she got to Gilda. And confused on Cranky's "smiling" while he was in a fetal position, during the whole Mirror Pool thing that apparently occurred already. Hopefully, he didn't lose his mind...
Sucks for what's happening to Sweetie, but I guess that's what happens when you go wandering around an old unexplored castle, even if I forget what exactly had happened to her, other than she got quite dirty and was in a drafty castle until dark or so. And with their parents going out of town (and retired? Not sure if they're that old and/or you have said what they do in this universe, since I doubt they're rich or anything), Rarity being the one to take up the mantle of caring for her sister.
I don't think we've seen any hints of what's going on with the Changelings since the FIRST chapter (Prologue), if I'm not mistaken. Though they're still being monitored probably, not that they know Discord's helping her, even from his stone prison. I look forward to seeing how AJ handles the help Dash forcibly brings (which btw, I'm sure can't be free, even if she's part of Equestria's military now (if unlike in the show, she IS a Wonderbolt already), or was before with the whole "Element of Harmony" thing before, as I can't recall) next chapter, on top of other things! Hopefully, the bad doctor that Rarity took Sweetie to was accurate in that she's only cold for not being used to sick, but I imagine it's about to get worse (pneumonia? If that makes you cold), but I hope you don't do something that horrible even if she may get better... eventually.
And here's what errors I could see, if this wasn't posted rough and unedited:
Soup, I'm sure.
Dunno if you usually leave periods out at the end, if you've done instances of notes in other MLP stories you've written on here.
Hear, I think? If you didn't mean hit, even though Trixie protected herself, after what Lightning Dust did to her.
Unnecessary quotation mark in this line with the paragraph it's in.
First, I'm going to shoot that doctor.
Next, I'm going to shoot the moron who hired him in the first place!!
I've never seen the G1 character Moochick. It sounds a lot like the 'Dungeon Master' character from the D&D cartoon in the 1980s, though.
hear
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Nice chapter, and yeah Rares is basically Sweetie's mom.
Yup soap'll cure what ails you. Eat it 6 times a day to get rid of those yucky germs.
4946323 I think she touched, or came into contact with an object inside of the castle. It was probably some of security device intended to chase off invaders.
4978429
You mean for what's happened to Sweetie Belle? I do need to re-read this series, as there's a few chapters I didn't technically mark off for whatever reason in the past, even if I have been keeping up to date with Darth's and most other tracked stories, though there are some I haven't finished from a while ago and are still in progress (as a series or stand-alone stories, mostly the latter). I know one of the CMC had to have hit/triggered something that alerted the Princesses, but that seems a bit of a stretch, that Sweetie hitting something that alerted the Princesses also made her violently sick (if I'm understanding based on my LONG-ass comment, cause I haven't commented on this particular story before now and summed up what I could remember, but mostly this chapter ).
Anyway, next time: try to specify more what/which part you mean in particular, so I won't need to re-read my review again, okay? Even if only a few ponies have been in the castle since this story started, I know (but I do feel like it could've been said, so I wouldn't have to re-read my own to understand just which part of it you meant) and some of it is my fault for not commenting previously on this story, sooner. And I do hope this gets another update, as promised for this week (since it didn't last night, as I'd hoped)!
4978709 I think it's chapter 6 that explains things.
Commence read.
A few errors.
Interesting to see what results from the discovery.
That bit with Cranky was probably the funniest part of any story in this series so far.
Most incompetent and heartless doctor ever.
I hear the bell tolling for Dr. Malpractice's medical career.
Also, Mr. and Mrs. Belle are in for an earful from their eldest daughter.
How to give one sentance a 180 degree mood whiplash.
Vs
wHat you did here, Trixie sees it.