//------------------------------//
// Finding Out You're Sick 
// Story: M235 
// by Soaring 
//------------------------------//

“Sweetie Belle!” a familiar voice shouted.

Ugh, I hated mornings.

Everything about them. They all started the same: Rarity always shouting at me to get myself up and out of bed, me running down the stairs just to greet her like nothing happened, and then get my food and get out of there as quickly as I could. I had school, after all, and I didn’t want to disappoint anypony.

And I distinctly remember feeling tired this morning. Very tired. I was rubbing my eyes like I was unable to open them fully without doing so. It was all because I had a sleepover with Scoots the night before, and we were talking about how the Cutie Mark Crusaders were going to meet up tomorrow to figure out our next attempt. Scoots suggested mountain climbing, but I thought shoe-making was the best way to go. But then we had this ginormous list that all three of us made and it was just—there were too many options! But we (Scoots and I) thought it would make the most sense to just pick something at random and see if it stuck.

Which is why I wished Apple Bloom was there that night. She had to skip out on that sleepover as she was busy helping her family at the farm. Her sister wanted a better applebucking season than last year, and with all the Zap Apple jam they were planning on selling, it looked like it was going to be their year. But, that meant Apple Bloom needed to be there more often to keep up with the demand… at least, that’s how she explained it to Scoots and I. Heck, she even said to us before she left that night:

"I'll be back soon girls! I jus' need to help my family out a lil' bit! Then we can all get back to some good ol' crusadin', ya hear?!"

I felt bad for her; she couldn’t even do what she wanted, but I took this as a moment of thinking, well, if she gets done early with her chores, she’ll be able to crusade with us more often. So, it was a win-win.

That’s what I thought.

Anyway, I slid out of bed that morning and was just not able to see much. Was rubbing my eyes too much with my hooves, and all I saw was Scoots’ sleeping bag. She had this violet little bag that she would bring over, but sometimes she would keep it at my house because she would want to sleep over randomly throughout the week. It drove her aunties up a wall from what I remember, and I still think they get a bit worried that she’s out doing something she’s not. We reassure them every time though when it happens and she usually gets off with a warning.

Scoots had left her bag there again, and she must have left during the night or something, because she was not there when I woke up. Whatever the reason that time around escaped me, but I do remember one thing that bothered me that morning.

“Sweetie Belle!” shouted my ever-so-annoying sister that I wished would just stop her yelling. “It’s time for breakfast!”

My sister was persistent that morning. She usually didn’t do this, she’d just say ‘Sweetie Belle, get up!” and then do something else. But this morning was just out of the ordinary. But when I heard that she had made breakfast, it was like she had summoned my stomach. 

“Eerrghhh.”

It made that sound. Like that exact sound—I know! Also, because of how I was that night and how loud we were laughing in my room, my voice was cracking all over the place. So I had replied to her that I was coming down, but I needed to get ready. That shut my sister up pretty well, and I didn’t hear her shout again. 

This morning was the morning when my magic wasn’t working right. I was trying to open the door quickly and I just wasn’t having the best time. It was like Rarity put butter all over the door knob and my magic couldn’t grip it. And to be honest, I’ve had issues with magic all my life. Lifting things was a hassle for me, and it was definitely an issue that day.

So, with my magic not gripping on the door knob and it fizzling each time, I just smacked the door knob with my hoof, hoping to somehow be super strong and break it with no problem. The door just stayed the same though, and it made me feel stupid. Like, really stupid. 

I went at this for a while before I stood there out of breath. We Cutie Mark Cruasders hated failing, and we still do. It’s a pride thing that we all have. We have to try again, and again, and again and eventually we will get it done. Just not the way we thought it would go, you know? Even in the face of a bully, we tried to earn our cutie marks. It was our destiny after all. Either we succeed, or we just try to get better every day. 

This was my deal with magic. My fight with it that morning. So I got up and tried again.

“You stupid door! Let. Me. Ooouuuutttt!”

I said it just like that. Each time I emphasized a word, I’d feel for that door knob’s metal surface, but every time it slipped. Thankfully I wasn’t shouting too loud at that moment, otherwise, my sister would come up and ruin this for me. So, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and focused on the door knob. I pictured it, where it was on the door, how far it was from my face, and how annoying it was—it’s true, it was really annoying me. I was thinking about how I would remove the knob later to see if I could throw it off the balcony to see how far I could throw it. Probably wouldn’t be far—

And when I think of it, I was droning on like I was doing now there. And I was thinking too much that I didn’t even know the lock disengaged, and that I was home free to get my breakfast.

However, I stopped, hopped up to look at myself in the mirror and fix my mane. It was a mess, but a quick brush of the mane and tail was enough to make myself look presentable. I smiled and got out of there. With how the boutique was, I raced down the hall and turned the corner to see my sister eating her breakfast. She had this long bendy fork that she ate with all the time, and it was so weird. Like, why did it have to bend slightly to the right? Was this a metaphor that she was crooked or something? Maybe? Weird thing to remember but it stuck out to me.

“Hello,” Rarity said. She said this while chewing on her pancake, which totally went against her ‘ladylike behavior’. She was such a hypocrite. “How was your night with Scootaloo?”

I rolled my eyes. “It was good, sis. We got a lot of our homework done, and then we did some planning for after school today.”

She raised her eyebrow at me. “Is that all you did?”

“Yeah? Why are you looking at me like that?”

She smirked, which by the way, every time she did this, her lip would do this thing where it would twitch a bit and then settle awkwardly to the side. It was a sign that she was going to say something really, really annoying. 

And she said something like this, “You didn’t talk to Scoots about Levi, did you?”

I glared at her. Daggers. Lots of them. “What about him?”

My sister had smiled. “Well, Sweetie Belle, you were so ecstatic to see him after school, I thought you would mention your little interaction with him to your friends.”

She was talking about when I saw him at the schoolhouse. Everypony was there, so I don’t know why she was wanting me to tell Scoots about it in particular. He didn’t go to our schoolhouse in particular, because he was, well, a bit too old for our grade. He was maybe a couple years older at best, but I think she knew that I… I had feelings for him. Feelings that I never told him about. It was for the best. I always told myself that.

I should have told him though. Stupid of me.

“So many ponies saw me, sis, that I would be surprised if she didn’t know about it. Why would I need to tell her anything?”

“Hmm,” Rarity hummed. She did this little tip tap on her chin before she’d gasp and say something to rattle me further. “Well, they may want to hear the finer details about you and Levi. Fillies do gossip like mares gossip.”

Dumb sister of mine.

I hobbled up to the chair and took my seat at the island. It was a pretty large island that Rarity had. Remodeled the kitchen and everything because the space was not ‘spacious’ enough. Whatever that meant.

“No gossip for you, sis. We’re not all spitting images of you.”

Rarity giggled behind her hoof. “Oh, Sweetie Belle. Relax, I am just messing with you.”

I gave her the silent treatment. I took a look at my breakfast, which was just like my sister’s: pancakes, with syrup poured on like it was monsoon season. I sighed and stuck my fork in it.

And this, was when Rarity opened her mouth again:

“So, is everything else okay?”

I simply nodded in reply before cutting up my first bite. I took a brief glance at my sister, who had this rather confused look on her face. Then, once I took said first bite, it disappeared in a flash. She smiled and then returned to her food.

My sister was a worrywort and a tease. One moment, she’ll be sitting there, picking on me from afar. And then the next moment, she’ll regret it and then try to smoothen things out by worrying. And sometimes it’ll be in the reverse order, and that gets even weirder. But I always felt that she’s great despite her flaws. And I don’t think that has changed at all.

Anyway, I remember glaring at my sister again, which prompted her to return to her Lake Syrup and liferaft named Pancake. Breakfast went along the same way there, and then I cleaned the dishes for the both of us. They were my chores after all, although, that’s all I was allowed to do. My sister had that “I’m the one that cooks around here, so you get to do the dishes” attitude. 

It was at that point, I let my mind drift while I cleaned our dishes. I know my sister was picking on me, but I was really excited to see Levi that day. As you know, Levi was my crush—and I know that’s not normal for you to hear but, I really wanted to see him. I was… unaware of my feelings at the time, so I was more worried about just hanging out with him. We usually would go by the park to see him, since he used that place to unwind. We’d find him at a park bench resting his eyes, and it was always my thing to go up to him and poke him in the cheek. He didn’t get bothered by me doing it either, he expected it at this point.

After I’d wake him up, we’d swing on the swingsets. If my friends were with me, we’d all swing on them together. Levi was more than happy to push us on them. He’d push us as much as he could, and we’d go flying. He was a strong colt—er, human. Really strong. He’d use his hands to push us until we were sent flying. For Scoots, it was like she was actually flying. For Apple Bloom and I, it was like we were about to faceplant in the dirt. 

We’d also go down the slides at the park. Oh, and there was this little tiny merry-go-round that the foals would play on. If nopony was around, we’d jump on it just to see what Levi would say. He would just play it off like it, being adamant on not jumping on it, but he would help us get started. 

But nothing compared to what he had set up for us. A lot of what the park had was either fixed by him or made by him. Not sure where he learned it. He said it was something that he did with his father back home. They made all sorts of stuff, a lot of it being things that were not of this world. Looking back on it, I don’t know why I didn’t prod him further whenever he had said this. Must’ve been raining or something. All I know is that I was grateful for him doing this. That playground was what we all played on for hours, including Levi. It made me feel… closer to him.

This day, however, was different. At school, Scoots and I made a bet.

“First one to the top of the castle at the playground wins.”

The prize? Notoriety for being the best castle climber in the playground and the choice to pick the next thing we’d do together for our cutie marks.

Pretty obvious choice. I took the bet. Now, at the time, we hadn’t considered what was going on outside, but during that recess, everypony was staying inside because it was hot out. Temperatures that were really hot didn’t exactly bother Scoots and I, but Miss Cheerliee wanted to play it safe; she wasn’t a fan of letting us out when the weather was on the fritz.

After school, we were able to see why she didn’t want us outside. It was hot. Like really, really hot. And it was that dry heat that didn’t really sit well with me. Gross. However, Scoots was still determined, so I wasn’t going to back down. And of course, on our way there, we ran into Levi.

“Hey girls.” 

“H-Hi, Levi!” 

I stuttered whenever I saw him. How embarrassing.

“Hey, Levi,” Scoots said, offering her hoof to bump.

I had mirrored her gesture. He bumped our hooves with his fist.

“How are you two doing?”

“About to beat Sweetie Belle in a castle-climbing race in the playground.”

“Oh?” He wiggled his brows here. “What are the stakes?”

I jumped in before Scoots could get a word in edgewise. “Who gets to pick our next cutie mark crusader mission—”

“That seems kinda underwhelming, Sweetie Belle.”

Scoots rolled her eyes. “Trust me, getting to pick means you don’t have to do something completely embarrassing. Like being a makeup artist or something.”

Scoots hated makeup for some reason.

“Sounds like a good bet then,” Levi said. He had this smirk on his face. “You girls wouldn’t mind if I watched this go down, right?”

We were both quick to shake our heads.

He clapped his hands together and smiled. “Great! I’ll make sure that no one cheats—”

“Cheating? Not at all. Fair and square, right, Sweetie Belle?”

“Of course. No wings or magic per usual.”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “I… see.”

Levi jumped in to tease her a bit. “Scootaloo, are you worried now that you can’t use your wings?”

“Worried? Psh. Not all!” She was totally worried. Her eyes darted away while her right ear twitched a bit too much for me to not notice. “It’s not like I haven’t climbed this before.”

“And Sweetie Belle has too,” Levi pointed out. He let Scoots realize that this was more equal than she thought. “Well, let’s get to it then. Gotta see who wins the Crusaders sweepstakes.”

And that was that. Referee recruited.

When we got to the playground, there was barely anypony there. Probably because it was toasting when we got there, the heat really making both Scoots and I break a sweat. For Levi, he wasn’t doing amazing either, but we were determined. Determined to climb the massive…

…overbearing…

…castle.

Scoots and I got ourselves ready, and Levi counted us down. And then once he gave us the go ahead, we started to climb.

Up the Stair Step Of Doom (it had these little panels that would flux so each step felt like you were walking on skates), across the Rickety Bridge Of Death, around the Winding Passage of No Return; basically it was an uphill battle that ended with us sliding down the Twirling Slide that would give us a moment of shade.

While the obstacles all had really cool names, it didn’t take us long to get past them. Probably because we’d done it so many times. But that didn’t mean Levi could take his eyes off us. I had checked just to be sure, and I noticed him smiling as he watched us gallop across the bridge, and end up right where the castle ended, down the slides that spiraled down to the ground again.

It ended with me winning, probably because Scoots was having trouble getting past the Winding Passage of No Return (the thing had mirrors that confused her). But it wasn’t my fault to feel bad. I had the glory, and that’s all that mattered in that moment. Scoots got down to the bottom moments later, and asked for a rematch. I looked over at Levi, and he gave us a thumbs up.

And we ran it again, and again, and again.

Still winning.

Scoots was upset, but she ended up laughing with me—it was great having friends like her around. Even if there was a competition, she didn’t let that get in the way of us. Panting and exhausted, we both shared a brief smile.

And that was when I looked at Levi.

He was in the shade, sitting on a bench. We rushed over to see him, as he had his eyes closed. 

“Levi? Are you okay?”

He opened his eyes, and he gave a weak smile.

“Yeah, just a bit tired. All that work that Twilight had me doing today got me tired out. And watching you two do what you did gave me a shared tiredness or something. Either that or it's this heat.” He wiped his brow. “Who turned the thermostat up?”

“It wasn’t me,” Scootaloo had said, waving her forehooves. “It was totally Sweetie Belle.”

“You wish,” I replied. “I can’t control the weather like Rainbow Dash can.”

Levi chuckled. “Well, I guess we need to get out of this heat before one of us passes out, huh?”

We all agreed. Scoots and I watched as he tried to get up.

But as soon as he got up, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he landed square on top of me.

“Levi?!”

I was able to gently push him off me, being mindful of his head. I saw his face, and nearly screamed my head off. He was out like a light. Not responsive. 

“Levi!”

Scootaloo and I raced to get him into someplace cool. Preferably Twilight’s place. We got there just in time, and she helped us get him some water and some wet towels to keep on his face. That whole time felt like a blur, but it looked like he was getting back to normal.

And then Twilight noticed something. Something… different. She gasped.

“Girls, get somepony from the clinic. Now.”

And that was when my life changed. 

Hours ticked by as we had gotten a nurse to gurney him into the clinic. We were all huddled up in the waiting room. And what I mean by we is that Twilight and her friends were there, and then there were us three (Scoots, Apple Bloom, and I).

“Twilight, you think he’s going to be okay?”

“I’d… hope so.”

“How did you—”

“—know? Rarity, he had one of the main symptoms: skin color blotches. They were all over his stomach, and they were different colors. I only noticed them once I lifted his shirt because I wanted to set it aside so he wasn’t drenched in his own sweat. If I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t have…”

My hooves were shaking as I sat down in my seat. Twilight had known something that the rest of us hadn’t and she hadn’t said what it was. Probably to avoid us three from freaking out, but I really wish she said something. Her saying nothing definitely made me more anxious than ever.

Then the doctor came out. He ushered Twilight and Rarity in, while the rest kept watch over us. I remember asking why we couldn’t go in, and Rainbow Dash said it was something that they needed to talk about.

“Caretakers only,” Rainbow Dash added.

“I don’t remember Levi being my brother,” I said, glaring daggers at Rainbow Dash.

“Now, now. No need for hostility here.” I turned to look at Applejack. She reached out and placed a forehoof on my shoulder. “Rares is probably making sure Twilight ain’t jumpin’ out of her fur right now. Princess Celestia did put Levi in Twilight’s care, so she’s probably out of her wits walking into that room.”

When Applejack said that, I understood what she meant, and I’m glad that my sister had walked in there with her, but every minute passed, I felt worse and worse. This was taking way longer than expected for those two to come back and it was making me more and more anxious. I felt like I could pop off my chair at any moment, and Apple Bloom and Scoots were much the same.

Then, hours later, Rarity and Twilight emerged out of the hall and into the waiting room. I was wanting to jump to the punch, asking what happened, but Twilight beat me to it.

“Levi’s sick. And he’s not going to be able to be visited for a little while.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“It means that they need some time to see what’s going on with him,” Rarity said to me. She sighed. “We need to give them all the time they need to fix him.”

“Fix him?” Apple Bloom said with a tilt of her head. “But wasn’t he dealing with a heat stroke or somethin? How…”

Twilight frowned. “They’re not sure. All I know is that they’ll need all the time that they can get. We need to give him some space for now.”

Those words echoed in my ears. I was frozen, stuck to the seat. Everypony else had walked out, save for my sister and I. She sat down by me and tried to wiggle me out of the trance I was in. 

I didn’t want to leave yet. Why was he sick? What happened? Was it my fault? Did I do something wrong? Why couldn’t my sister tell me the truth? Why couldn’t I visit him? Nothing made sense.

All I could do was stare at the hall where Rarity and Twilight had gone down, wondering if it was okay to still exist while he was in there… alone.

I felt Rarity’s hoof loop around me, and she pulled me close as the world around me started to crumble.