//------------------------------// // Chapter 22: Seeing Red // Story: The Bug In The Basement // by Skijarama //------------------------------// 10 Days Later…     Something was wrong.     Beebee looked through the front window and at the school across the street with wide eyes and a hanging jaw, his wings twitching nervously on his back every few seconds. Eventide watched him from the other side of the room, his arms crossed over his chest, and his expression twisted into one of concern. His first clue that something wasn’t quite right had been when Beebee had gotten up hours earlier than normal complaining about a sick stomach and a bad headache. While out of the ordinary, this wasn’t quite enough to set off many red flags. But then Eventide had noticed that Beebee seemed very… distracted. Throughout the day so far, Eventide had had to call to him more than once to get his attention, even if they were in the same room. More than that, the little guy was having a hard time staying in the air, claiming that it was hard to focus on his flapping.     Neither knew exactly what it was, but something was eating away at Beebee intensely. Even Buddha had seemed unnerved by something, and had opted to hide in the basement, refusing to come out from under Beebee’s bed. And now, in the middle of CHS’ lunch period, Beebee couldn’t take his eyes off of the school across the street. Eventide had tried more than once to get him away from the window, but in the end, Beebee would not be deterred. So, in the end, Eventide had compromised by having Beebee drape the curtains over himself, so he was hidden from prying eyes.     They had remained like this for several minutes, now, and all Eventide could do was watch and wait for Beebee to understand what was happening. “It’s all… red,” Beebee suddenly mumbled before shuddering in his place, his wings giving an agitated buzz on his back. “I don’t like it…”     Eventide perked up, finally having something to go off of. “What’s red?” he asked, stepping closer to Beebee while giving Canterlot High School a cautious glance.     Beebee reluctantly backed off from the window and dropped back to the floor. His legs wobbled upon landing, and he swayed in place before finding his balance. Shaking his head, he turned around to look up at Eventide while pointing at the school. “The school. It’s all red, like when you get angry with me,” he explained before shuffling closer to Eventide, his ears drooping. “It’s scary,” he added in a shaking voice.     Eventide looked at the school some more, scrutinizing it for any changes. It seemed to be more or less the same, so he leaned down to scoop Beebee up into his arms. “Try not to focus on it,” he offered gently while retreating deeper into the house. “Red is bad, right?”     Beebee nodded. “Uh-huh. Red, black, dark blue and purple are all bad when they come from you. They mean I did something wrong…” he explained before resting his chin on Eventide’s shoulder to look back at the school again. “But the school’s bigger than you, Daddy… and there’s so much red.”     “Well, we probably didn’t make the school mad,” Eventide lightly joked with a small chuckle. “Don’t worry about it. There was probably some kind of teenage drama over there, and everyone’s all bitter about it or something. A school can’t be angry, after all. I mean, it’s just a building.”     “I know, but… there’s so much.”     Eventide frowned, then shook his head while slipping into his bedroom. He came to a stop by his bed and set Beebee down on the blankets, then went over to the windows to close the curtains. They didn’t want a repeat of Apple Bloom, after all. With that done, he sat down on the side of the bed and gave Beebee a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay. Give it a day or two, and I’m sure all the ‘red’ will go away.”     Beebee nodded slowly while moving closer to Eventide. “I hope so… I don’t like the red. It’s awful…” he said before resting his chin on Eventide’s leg and looking up at him. “Can’t you call Aunt Fluttershy? She’s over there, isn’t she?”     Eventide nodded slowly. “Uh, yeah, I suppose. I left my phone out there in the living room, though,” he said before moving to stand. He put a hand on Beebee’s back to keep him in place, though. “Stay here and take it easy, Bee. I’ll be back in a bit.”     Beebee nodded and settled down as well as he could. Satisfied that all would be well here, for now, Eventide left the room and retrieved his cell phone from the kitchen counter. After a few button pushes and swipes, he was calling Fluttershy. He held the device to his ear, listening to the rings.     One.     Two.     Three.     Four.     “Um, hello. I’m so sorry, but I can’t answer my phone right now. Uh, if it’s okay, you can leave me a message at the beep, and I can call you back. But, um… whatever you want is fine…”     Eventide inwardly cursed at that, though he had to admit that he found the message amusing. The moment he heard the beep, he started talking. “Hey, Fluttershy, it’s me. Uh, just out of curiosity, has there been anything… bad going on at CHS recently? Like, are a lot of people angry or upset or something? Beebee’s saying the whole school’s turned red, and red usually means anger, so… yeah. If you could call me back and let me know, that would be awesome. Also, change your answering machine message. That thing is ancient, and you aren’t quite that timid anymore. It’s cute as heck, but come on.”     Before he could go any further, Eventide’s attention was ripped away from his phone when he heard Beebee let out an uncomfortable groan from the bedroom. Wincing, he brought the phone closer to his mouth. “Gotta go, Fluttershy. Call me back, please,” he said quickly before ending the call and shoving his phone into his pocket. He then turned and made his way back for the bedroom. Once he got there, he stopped in the doorway, his eyes widening.     Beebee was standing up again, his back hunched and his eyes wide open. His muzzle was aiming directly down, and the motions he was making resembled dry heaving. His wings were buzzing even more aggressively than earlier, and his legs were shaking with frightening intensity. Eventide immediately rushed to the bedside, sliding to a stop and falling to his knees to be closer to Beebee’s eyes level. “Beebee, what’s wrong?! He asked quickly while reaching out.     Beebee shuddered in revulsion before getting his heaving under control. He looked at Eventide and whimpered. “Th-the r-red. I-it’s in th-the h-house!” he moaned before shoving a hoof against his mouth and screwing his eyes shut. He let out an extremely uncomfortable wail from deep in his throat before opening one of his eyes just a crack. “It’s getting w-worse!”     Eventide curled his fingers for a moment, then gave a shaky nod. “Alright, uh, just hang on! We’ll figure something out!” he said quickly before standing up and backing out of the room to look at the school again. “Is it coming in through the walls or something?”     Beebee took his hoof away from his mouth long enough to shake his head and speak. “No, it’s coming in from under the doors,” he answered before stopping to dry heave again.     Eventide cringed. “Okay, okay, uh, we need a plan…” he muttered desperately before sprinting into his bathroom. As soon as he was in there, he grabbed several towels, then made a mad dash for the front door. He knelt down and pushed the towels against the underside of the door as tightly as he could, then looked back at Beebee. “Is this helping, Beebee?!” he called out.     Beebee stumbled around the corner, looking even worse than before. He shook his head. “N-no. It’s still pouring in through the s-sides and top- Hurk!” Beebee’s words were suddenly cut off when his cheeks bulged. He heaved one more time before a large, thick glob of that awful green paste was expelled past his lips to splatter against the floor. He coughed a few times, before looking up at Eventide with shaking legs and eyes that shimmered with misery. “Daddy, I’m scared! Help me!” he cried out before his legs gave out, and he fell into the paste.     Swearing, Eventide ran over to Beebee and scooped him up. There was a noticeably large smear of the vomit along Beebee’s cheek, chin, and throat, and it smelled horrible. Barely resisting the urge to gag himself, Eventide brought Beebee over to the counter and put him down by the sink. “Okay, if you feel any more puke coming on, aim it in there,” he advised while reaching for one of the cabinets.     “Dad…” Beebee moaned before lurching and throwing up again. Eventide searched the cabinet he had chosen for a moment before coming back with a roll of paper towels in his hand. He gathered up and tore away several squares before turning a handle on the faucet, allowing hot water to flow freely into the sink.     “How you doing, Bee?” Eventide checked while putting his hand under the water, waiting for it to get hot.     Beebee shivered and gagged.     “Don’t answer that,” Eventide added before deciding the water was warm enough. He put the paper towels under the stream for a moment to get it wet, then moved back over to Beebee’s side. “Okay, hold still… lift your chin,” he whispered before gently applying the tissues to the smears on Beebee’s carapace. The paste wasn’t as thick as it had been before, thankfully, and was quick to wash away.     Beebee offered a tiny, grateful smile once Eventide was done cleaning him. “Thanks, Daddy,” he said before another gag ended any further speech. “You’re welcome. Is it getting any better?” Eventide asked in a soft voice, putting his hand on Beebee’s back and rubbing soothing circles between his wings with his thumb. Beebee shook his head, though he did visibly relax under the thumb.     “No… I’m still-” another gag, followed by more paste flowing down the drain. He lifted himself back up a little and looked at Eventide pitifully. “I don’t need to answer that, right?”     Despite himself, Eventide managed to chuckle. “No, not really. I think I got it…” he said weakly before his smile faded. Beebee looked back down into the sink and slowly settled down onto his belly. Eventide’s heart twisted with fear and confusion in his chest, and his brow furrowed as he tried to think of a solution. When nothing came, all he could do was continue to give his son gentle pets and assurances. “Just hang in there, Bee,” Eventide whispered to him. “We’ll figure this out, okay? Just be brave.”     BEEP.     “Fluttershy, please answer your phone. All of the red that’s coming out of CHS is making Beebee really, really sick. We’re by the sink right now. He’s puking a lot, but it isn’t as thick as before, and he doesn’t have a fever. Call me back as soon as you can, please!”     BEEP.     “It’s me again. We came down to the basement a few hours ago. Apparently, the red isn’t as thick down here, and Beebee started feeling a little better. He’s managed to fall asleep now, though I had to make a trip and get the pan again… Look, it’s getting late, I get it, but can you please call me back when you can? I’m kind of worried. You normally answer your phone when not in class, and… Just call me back, okay?”     BEEP.     “Yeah, it’s me again. Uh… It’s getting really late, and I’m getting sleepy. Beebee’s still asleep, but he’s still not in very good shape. I’m going to be sleeping down here in the basement with him to keep him company. If you can call me in the morning, that would be wonderful. So… ugh. Sorry. Goodnight, Fluttershy.     BEEP.     Fluttershy looked down at the phone in her hands with a wide-eyed look of shock, horror, and guilt on her face. Her phone had been out of charge for pretty much the entire day, leaving her completely oblivious to Eventide’s troubles. Now that she knew, she wanted nothing more than to call him and apologize profusely while offering whatever help she could. She was barely able to suppress a panicked whimper as fear for Beebee encroached in her heart. Her thumb hovered over the call button for several seconds before she sighed and set the phone next to all of the other ones on the dresser to charge overnight. As much as she wanted to, right now wasn’t the best time. Eventide was sleeping, for one thing. Plus, Fluttershy was with all of her friends, including Sunset Shimmer… and Princess Twilight. She didn’t want either of them to learn about Beebee - not while the portal was active, anyway.     With a sigh, she turned and looked on at Pinkie Pie’s bedroom. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were playing some fighting game or another at Pinkie’s bedroom TV, while Pinkie herself had an equally pink laptop open in front of her on the floor, where she was on her belly. Rarity and Sunset Shimmer were idly chattering to one another, the former of which was holding her phone, which had been full of charge all day. ‘A lady always comes prepared,’ she had said.     Meanwhile, up on the bed was Twilight Sparkle… the pony princess from Equestria, the home of Sunset Shimmer… and Beebee. Where else could he be from? His generally equine appearance, his admittedly few and limited displays of magic, the way he could speak and communicate, and the fact that there wasn’t a single other creature like him on Earth… all of these traits added up in Fluttershy’s mind a long time ago. Beebee came from Equestria. Twilight noticed Fluttershy staring and lowered her notebook. “Something wrong, Fluttershy?” she asked, startling her out of her trance. Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, no! Nothing’s wrong, just thinking,” she lied quickly in what she hoped was a convincing way before looking down. Twilight watched her for a moment, unconvinced, but then went back to her notebook, leaving Fluttershy to sigh in relief. Twilight had come back through the portal at Sunset’s behest once the Sirens showed up, finding a way to open it without having to wait. In her hand was a pen, which she used to write in a notebook held in her other hand. She still didn’t seem quite used to using hands and fingers, but she was getting better, for sure. Settled next to Twilight was Spike, her dog, who was apparently a fire-breathing dragon back on the other side of the portal, and who could talk.     It was so strange, seeing those two again… but a welcome relief, what with the Sirens causing trouble. Fluttershy’s face fell somewhat at the thought, knowing full well that the Sirens were responsible for Beebee’s condition. According to Twilight, they spread hatred and anger and then fed off of the negative energy. Something she and her friends had all seen first hand when the Sirens had sung their song in the lunch hall. Everybody, save for Fluttershy and her friends, had been consumed with a fire of vitriol, vindication, and hatred that had led to mass arguments and even one or two physical altercations.     “Fluttershy, darling, care to join us?” Rarity asked, jarring Fluttershy from her thoughts. She gave a quick nod before making her way over to join Rarity and Sunset on the floor next to the bed.