Spike laid in his bed, facing his wall. It was four in the morning and he had woken up suddenly. He closed his eyes, wanting to go back to sleep. He felt something move his arm slightly. Scramble sometimes liked to join him in bed when he was asleep. Something was different this time. She was a lot warmer than usual. Spike peeked open his eyes to see Scramble struggling to lift up his arm. She was shaking and her cheeks were red. Spike sat up and picked her up.
“You’re burning up!” Spike exclaimed. Scramble let out a cough and a small whimper. He knew for a fact that they didn’t have any medicine for babies in the castle. There was a twenty-four hour pharmacy not too far from the castle. He didn’t want to bother Twilight, she had been up for most of the night grading test. So had Starlight so he couldn’t bother her. Scramble shivered, letting out a sneeze. Spike stood up from his bed, holding Scramble in his arms. He walked over to his cabinet and pulled out a small light pink sweater. Spike placed Scramble on the bed.
Spike put Scrambles arms up and he slipped the sweater on her. Her shivering stopped and closed her eyes. Spike picked her up and walked out of his bedroom. He walked down the hallway quietly, making sure not to wake anyone up. He walked past a room to hear Stormy Cloud snoring. Spike walked over to a closet and pulled out her stroller. Scrambles stuffed raccoon, Meeko, fell from the closet, onto the floor. It must have gotten in there when he was putting away some of her toys. Spike placed Scramble in her stroller and handed her Meeko.
“Daddy...” She mumbled sleepily, cuddling into Meeko. She let out another cough and a whine. Spike gave her a sympathetic look and started to push the stroller down the hallway.
“Don’t worry sweetheart, you’ll feel better soon.”
Spike entered the bright pharmacy, making him squint. It was a sudden change from the dark night. It was pretty much empty besides him, Scramble, and two employees. He picked up a shopping basket and placed it on the back of the stroller. Spike looked at Scramble who was whimpering in her sleep. She held Meeko closely to her body. Spike wandered down the aisles until he found the medicine aisle.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” A stallion wearing a red uniform shirt asked. Spike nodded his head.
“Do you have any medicine for babies?” Spike asked. The stallion nodded his head and pointed to a small section with teething rings, ear thermometers, baby formula, bottles, diapers, and medicine.
“Thank you,” Spike said before looking at the medicines. He picked up a flavorless medicine and read the back.
” Meant for babies 3 to 6 months. Take every three hours. Only give the baby one bottle cap.” The instructions read. Spike grabbed an ear thermometer and a case of baby formula. He placed them all in the basket and made his way to the counter. Spike placed the items on the counter and the mare behind the counter rang it up. She looked very tired.
“That’ll be ten bits.” The mare stated. Spike reached into the back of the stroller and pulled out ten bits. He handed it to the mare and picked up his bag. Spike walked out of the pharmacy and looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to rise and it looked beautiful. Scramble started to cry from her stroller, making Spike pick her up. She instantly calmed down and curled up into his chest, closing her eyes. Spike smiled and continued to push the stroller. He hummed softly, making Scramble smile slightly. She babbled softly to herself as if she were singing along. Hopefully she would get better soon.
Spike sat in his bedroom, holding a thermometer and a bottle filled with milk and medicine. He knew for a fact that she wouldn’t drink the medicine by itself. The thermometer read 102.5. It wasn’t too bad but she was definitely sick. Scramble let out a loud cough and leaned on Spike's chest, ready to go to sleep.
“You have to drink your milk first and then you can go to sleep okay?” Spike reassured. He put the bottle in her mouth, which he drank slowly. She should be hungry, she hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before. She let out a whine and pushed the bottle away. It was half empty, which seemed like enough. Spike patted her back and she let out a burp. He laid down and held Scramble close to his chest. She let out a loud yawn and snuggled close to him.
“Goodnight Scramble,” Spike said as he watched Scramble quickly fall asleep. Spike held her closer and felt himself drift off to sleep.
Spike awoke to a loud beeping noise. He let out a groan and hit his alarm clock. He wanted to sleep forever. Spike had set an alarm so he could give Scramble her medicine. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, letting out a yawn. He looked out the window to see the sun was up. Scramble looked up at Spike. It was clear that she had been up for a while. Her face looked pink instead of red and she wasn’t shivering anymore.
“How long have you been awake?” Spike asked. Scramble blew a raspberry and hugged Spike. He chuckled and picked her up. He picked up the medicine bottle and poured some into the cap.
“Open wide.” Spike commanded. Scramble opened her mouth and he poured the medicine in her mouth. She surprisingly swallowed it without any trouble.
“Do you wanna go back to sleep?” Spike asked while closing the medicine. Scramble levitated Meeko and moved him around as if he were dancing. Spike smiled and picked Meeko up.
“I’m gonna eat you up!” Spike said in a deep voice. Scramble laughed loudly as he pretended to eat her. Twilight entered the room and took a picture. Spike turned around when he heard the camera snap.
“Starlight said that she saw you leave the castle with Scramble at four in the morning.” Twilight stated.
“Scramble got sick and I went out to go get medicine, she seems a lot better now.” Spike explained. Twilight gave him a look of surprise.
“You went all by yourself?” Twilight asked. Spike nodded his head as he handed Scramble the raccoon.
“Well, it seems like you’re becoming very responsible,” Twilight stated. Spike smiled. He really was.