//------------------------------// // Inadvertent Chaos // Story: Beyond Me // by Boopy Doopy //------------------------------// I opened my eyes slowly and saw that I was still laying on the examination table, Lofty and Holiday standing with me as the latter pet my mane and back. “Wha… we’re still here?” I asked tiredly as I carefully turned my head to the side and laid on my cheek. “What are we doing here? I thought we’d be back home by now…” “I know, sweetie,” Holiday told me, “but the doctor is just going to see what’s wrong with you. He should be back any minute now with some medicine that will make you feel all better, and then we’ll take you back home and get you to bed. Does that sound nice?” It absolutely did sound nice, and I found myself wishing I was back in bed right then. “Lord,” I said aloud, too tired to try and keep the prayer in my head, or to even try to close my eyes, “please let this sickness go away. I pray that your will is your will, and I pray that you let this sickness go away. Amen.” I watched Holiday and Lofty give me a look, but it seemed they decided not to comment on it, and instead went back to petting me as I stared listlessly at the door. I’d been there… what, four days? And yet I was already sick, which made sense to me, seeing as I wasn’t vaccinated for anything and was in an entirely new body that didn’t exist before and had a completely brand new immune system. I could only hope that whatever this was wasn’t serious or that they had something to give to me for it. “This is going to last for days isn’t it?” I thought to myself, still staring blankly at the door, doing my very best to keep my emotions in check for once. “Wait, what day even is it? It was… Tuesday when I got here? I should’ve been at work…  I wonder if they have someone working for me. Maybe they think I just up and quit after only calling in one day in the last three years… I wonder if the police are searching for me. I hope I at least had the lights off in my apartment. I can’t remember if I did though…” “It’s going to be okay, Asher,” Holiday whispered as she continued to pet me. “You’ll get better soon.” “I hope so,” I told her quietly, finally closing my eyes because the light hurt my head too much. “I don’t like being sick. You probably just think I’m a sick little girl, don’t you… Achoo! Ow...” “No, I think you’re a sick little colt,” she responded gently, “one who I know will start to feel better if sh- err, he just gives it some time.” “Lord, I thank you for at least- I mean, for in your grace, letting me stay with these two,” I silently added to my prayer, smiling at her words for just a moment before frowning again at my headache. “It’ll get better sweetie,” she continued. “I promise.” "I just want to go home," I told her tiredly. "I don't want to be here. I want to go home..." I didn’t know how long it was before someone else finally came in, but it felt like a long time. When someone did enter, I opened my eyes again to see that it was the same brown pony from before, this time carrying in his magic six or seven shots of what I could only assume to be vaccinations I needed. He could clearly see my expression drop at the sight of them, because he immediately started apologizing as he came up to me, saying, “I’m sorry. I really don’t want to have to do this to you, but from what your blood is telling us, you’ll spend the next few months being sick if we don’t get you up to date on your vaccinations.” “I know…” I sighed, knowing that I sounded like I was about to cry because of it as I closed my eyes again. “I promise this won’t take long dear,” he told me, starting to prepare the first one and rub me with what I could only assume were alcohol wipes. “Would you rather have them all in the same leg, or just spread out over your body?” “Just put them all in one spot,” I responded, yawning again as I put my hooves on my ears, wishing my head would stop pounding. "I really don't care at this point. I really hate being sick..." “You two are up to date on your vaccinations aren’t you?” Doctor Horse asked as he quickly stuck the first shot in, Asher barely flinching at the pain, slightly grateful that it took her mind off her head even a little bit. “Holiday and I?” Lofty asked back. “Yes, and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo… might be? You would have to ask their parents though.” “That’s good, because she does have diphtheria, unfortunately… has she been sneezing and coughing in school and such? How long has she been sick?” “As far as we can tell, it was only just yesterday she started to sneeze and cough and feel sick. She told us it was just allergies before, and she didn't seem that bad and wasn't complaining yesterday, but... yeah.” “Well, we might not need too much medication then… we have a stack of orders already sent out to Canterlot, and it should be coming in by train in just a few hours. Luckily we made a cure centuries ago for a situation like this… heh, imagine if this was mumps though. That would be a nightmare. Not that this isn’t serious, but as they say, it can always be worse.” “Well, it’s certainly a good thing there's medicine coming in.” “Yup, enough for her and all her classmates and about a hundred other ponies if need be,” he explained as he concentrated on making sure all the shots were administered. “Along with about five hundred vaccines just to be safe and make sure nopony else gets sick. We don’t like to play around with the big ones like diphtheria. Her classmates might not like her after this though, but I’m sure they’d prefer it to being sick along with her.” He paused, sighing as he continued, “Anyway, I guess we also need to send a letter to Mayor Mare to make sure nopony tries to come to town for the holiday.” “Wait, you’re going to cancel the Summer Sun Celebration because of this?” Holiday asked, surprised. “Well, not cancel it. Can’t really do that, seeing as it’s Celestia who raises the sun, but… well, this year, the actual celebration portion of it that’s supposed to happen in Ponyville will have to be restricted to just Ponyville residents, unfortunately. Can’t chance anypony getting sick, after all.” “Great,” the filly whispered, causing the other three ponies to jump as they almost forgot she was there. “I guess I ruined an entire holiday for a whole country.” Celestia had finally convinced herself that she would go out and had just stood up from her throne when she was interrupted by one of her servants. “Princess Celestia,” Raven Inkwell said respectfully, bowing in her presence. “Arise, my little pony,” she commanded, then smiled and, in a much friendlier voice, continued, “You know you aren’t expected to bow before me.” “You know I will anyway,” she smiled back as she looked up at her, standing straight up again. “It’s a matter of respect to me, and if anypony deserves it, it’s you, Princess.” “I do appreciate how you feel, Raven, but I assure you, it’s not needed. Now I must ask, what brings you to my ear?” “I thought you should know,” she started politely, “that there’s a report of somepony with diphtheria coming out of Ponyville. We actually just received a request for medication and vaccinations that are going on their way now.” “Ponyville…” Celestia trailed off thoughtfully. “I just sent my pupil off to Ponyville to prepare for the Summer Sun Celebration, and was on the verge of heading out there myself. Do we know who it is who contracted it? How long has it been that they’ve been sick?” “From what I’ve been told, it’s a little filly, and her guardians say she just became sick yesterday. I’ve also been told that, while many ponies might have been exposed, because it’s been caught early, there shouldn’t be too many cases, and the cases there are should remain localized. However, they are planning on closing off the town for the holiday.” “I see…” Celestia said, thinking about Twilight Sparkle’s letter from yesterday. A silver filly with a golden mane who was curious about the Summer Sun Celebration and was acting strangely. It sounded like this was the filly she was looking for, although the fact that she mentioned that she already had guardians did mean that she couldn’t just take her off to Canterlot like she wanted, especially if she was sick... well, maybe. That would be something to consider once she met the foal. She wasn't quite sure about that yet. Still, she wanted to at least meet her and see if she was somepony to be worried about, considering she was already causing chaos and starting to mess up her plans, perhaps inadvertently, but doing so nonetheless.  Once she did, she could figure out what to do with her from there. “Raven,” Celestia told her after a minute of silence, “please make sure to reschedule any events I have planned for today. I believe I’ll be taking a look around Ponyville.” “Stay well, Princess,” Raven responded politely. It was a few hours before Asher and her guardians were allowed to head home, feeling a bit better after being given some medicine, although her leg was aching from how many shots she was given. She almost wished she asked for them to be spread around, but she figured that’d just make all of them hurt a bit when she flexed them. Besides, she could live with it, seeing as it would prevent her from catching something worse later. She watched the small town as she rode on Lofty’s back, doing her best to avoid coughing into her mane as she did so. She had to admit, it was a nice, little town and looked very friendly, although she would still much rather be at work than be sick and a pony. And a child. And a girl. It was annoying, although at that particular moment, she couldn’t muster up much strength to be too upset about it. “At least they’re starting to believe me,” she thought. “Or maybe at least humoring me, not like that nurse and that teacher. What am I even supposed to be doing here? This sucks…” Maybe she wasn’t supposed to be doing anything at all. Maybe she should’ve been looking at this as an opportunity. An opportunity to do what, she didn’t know, but perhaps at least considering the thought that she was gifted something would make her feel better. “Makes for a crummy gift though,” she muttered silently, before catching herself. “No, stop that. Don’t ever think like that. Any gift is a gift from God, and should be accepted graciously. Besides, you’re not even supposed to be questioning this anymore, Ash, remember? Whatever His will is, it will be His will, and that’s it.” With that thought, she cleared her mind for the rest of the trip home, sinking into the bed once she was set in it. “Are you feeling up to eating something?” Lofty asked once she was set down. "None of us have had anything to eat all day, and I know I’m hungry.” “I’m fine for now,” she answered, her voice still quiet and weak. “But can I take a bath? That usually helps me feel better…” “Absolutely. Do you think you’ll be okay on your own?” “Yes, I’ll be fine, but if you could carry me in there, that’d be nice. I can do the rest from there though.” “Princess Celestia!” Twilight started as she opened the door to Golden Oaks Library, coming face to face with her mentor. “I- what are you doing here so early? The Summer Sun Celebration isn’t until the twenty-first! Is this about that filly I was telling you about? Do you think she has something to do with Nightmare Moon’s return? Should we-” “Be at ease, Twilight,” Celestia told her calmly, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m only here to ask about the filly you saw, and more importantly, to check on preparations and make sure you’re finding friends as I requested.” “The planning is going well, Princess,” she responded quickly, “but apparently somepony got sick and now they’re considering canceling the Summer Sun Celebration! I’m pretty sure I saw that filly sneezing yesterday, and wouldn’t be surprised if-” “Twilight, please, be at ease,” Celestia said again, this time with a bit of force in her voice. “Although it might be closed off to only Ponyville residents this year, I assure you, the Summer Sun Celebration will proceed as it always has, and would like you to continue preparing for the holiday.” “But what about that foal? And what about Nightmare Moon?” the purple pony asked. “She and her friends were looking up stuff about the Summer Sun Celebration, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. She probably knows something about Nightmare Moon's return, and might even have something to do with it!” The alicorn chuckled at her student, saying, “You really do need to get your head out of all those books you read. I’m only here to check on my little ponies, and since she’s the one who got sick first, I’d like to visit her first to make sure she’s doing well.” “I really think you should-” “Twilight?” Celestia interrupted, raising her eyebrow. Her pupil was confused for a second, before deflating, realizing what she was telling her. “Be at ease,” she muttered, looking at her hooves, disappointed and slightly annoyed, even despite the fact that it was Celestia of all ponies. “I’m sure you’re doing well in the task I’ve given you, and I’m sure you’ll find many friends available to you here if you take the time to look for them. I trust that you’ll follow my directions to the best of your ability, and look forward to seeing you again during the holiday.” “Yes, princess,” Twilight huffed as she left, leaving her alone with her thoughts. “Maybe it won’t be all bad… but I know that filly has to have something to do with Nightmare Moon’s return, or at least knows something about it. Is she planning something? How can Celestia expect me to make friends at a time like this? Ugh…”