Chapter 40
Allergic to Kindness
Groaning can be heard among a muffled set of voices...
The groaning is mine.
As the darkness in my eyes parts, I see who those voices belong to, or rather I see blurry outlines that soon come into focus... and along with them... a slow thumping of a hangover pounding in my skull.
"Fffffffet...locks... where..." booting up Heartbreak.exe... systems check... loading... loading... computer lingo here... technology sounds! Technology sounds! Those are the sounds of technology!
"You're in the hospital! Quick! How many hoovies am I holding up?" Pinkie's voice blares into my ears.
"Five?" Fuck! I said that out of habit!
"Haaa! You're so funny H.B.!" Gaaaaaaaaah my ears! It makes everything too bright!!
"You'll be happy to know that the operation was a complete success! Congratulations! It's a girl!" A voice comes that my brain finally registers as Dr. Nickers.... wait... What?!
"Wait?! What?!" I shriek and try to move but something is hindering me from getting up and... out... and? I'm in a hospital bed?!
"Oh... ha... ha... so sorry, did I mean operation?"
'Dr.', and I'm going to use that term in the loosest way possible from now on, Nickers nervously snickers. "I meant that we successfully x-rayed and put a cast on your foreleg!" He rubs the back of his head while shrugging. "I get those two mixed up more than you would think! But good news! I did it right on the first try this time!"
He sounded way too proud of that.
"Woooow... That’s ammmmmazimg... isn't that ammmmmaaazing, Pinkie? It totally reassures me that I'm in good h-hooves..." I'm not sure if this is crabtastic cause the pink one assured me that this time the doctor would be different! They weren't different at all were they Pinkie?!
"Reaaally?" Pinkie asks with a big wide filly eyes.
I don't even have to say anything, Pinkie's reaction to my face said it all. I swear, I'm just this close to screaming.
"Oh..." Pinkie's features droop... fetlocks...
"I... guess you did your best and everything turned out fine." I don't know what else to say. Pinkie's perk perks a little and a small smile returns to her face.
"That's all great!" Dr. Nickers interjects "now all we have to do is wait for the cast to fully dry and if you want to see the x-rays, you can! We took those while you were muttering something about... pink bunnies or evil Celestia... Ha, I don't know, it was really funny!"
I feel a colder chill go down my spine...
"Did I say anything else while I was out?" Please nothing about getting turned into a pony... or a mare... please, please, please!
"Oh no, after that you were pretty much out of it, which was great for me!" He gives me a worrisome smile. He must have caught my glare cause he's waving his hooves at me. "Oh no, no, no, what I mean was that it was really easy to wrap your leg! I hope you like lilacs... the color was Pinkie's suggestion!"
Pinkie glances over at me, yet again, a hopeful glimmer in her eye.
My anger is fizzling, between Fluttershy's quiet softness, Cream Puff’s cute charm, and Pinkie Pie’s everlasting joy, it's really hard to stay mad at the ponies!
"You're lucky that I happen to like lilacs, both the flowers and the colors." It's true... they grow everywhere in Spokane. Ope, that's some memories triggered about when i moved from Washington to Minnesota almost on a whim... fuck, Nickers is still here...
"Great! Now I have a friend- I mean patient to meet up with!" Dr. Nickers stops just short of exiting. "It's Trot McColt! The famous movie star! You might remember him from such classics as 'Gladius the Groovy Mule' and "Radioactive Mustang'!"
God... dammit, Equestria... just...stop...
"No? Ha... oh well, he's in the hospital due to an accident involving mermare!"
... Please make it stop...
"Well, okie dokie! I have to go now!" He trots out the door.
“Ugh...” Finally, with things going on and on as they are, the last thing I need is a Simpsons reference pony. Really, how many other doctor based-
Pinkie boops me! Gah! “You can do an inner monologue later! I wanna know about your love of lilacs!”
I can feel my ears fall down. I really need to get that hat that High Hat sent me cleaned...
“Hey! Lilacs!” Pinkie clip-claps her hooves at me.
“What? Oh, right. Yeah. I like lilacs. I grew up around them, they smell nice and look... pretty?” I don’t know what to say. Pinkie is so random that I don’t know where she’s going with this, and my leg is still... in pain but not? It’s a weird sensation.
"Really?! That's awesome! Oh! I know a pony named Lilac Blaze! You two might get along really well! She's all about art and nature and-"
My hoof goes up to Pinkie's uuuuhm... pink-a-riffic? Yes, Pink-a-riffoc snoot to boop.
Hey, if she can do that to me to quiet Goth Bunny, I can do it to Pinkie Pie to interrupt whatever she’s gonna go on about. If it’s important, she’ll tell me later.
Wait... Goth Bunny... she... she... Oh fetting hell... Goth Bunny, you up there? Gothy? Hello?
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As Heartbreak held her hoof to the honker belonging to Pinkie Pie, her face completely changed in an instant.
Her face drained of color as her eyes went wide and her ears drooped down.
"Something the matter, H.B.?" Pinkie asked, her voice sounding goose-like due to the perforated hoof placed on it.
"Uhm..." came Heartbreak's uneasy panicked reply. "Nothing... I just remembered some details from that... hallucination."
"Which is in no way my or the hospital’s fault!" Dr. Nickers interjected, his head popping back into the room.
Pinkie's head tilted and then put an ear to Heartbreak's head as if she was listening at a door.
"What are you-"
"Shhhh!" Pinkie hushed, before after which a few moments later, she gently booped the dower right off H.B.'s face. "Everything's okie dokie lokie, Heart-a-pokie!" she beamed.
"That means that everything is A-OK, right?" Dr. Nickers asked, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"It's kinda cold in this room, " Heartbreak said, the color returning to her face at Pinkie's reassurance.
“Well, you are sitting under the AC,” Dr. Nickers waved a hoof to his left, and give a giggle. “Or it could be the wind coming off your shoulder!”
Heartbreak gave an icy glare and said nothing.
“Oh! Ha, ha! I see what you mean about it being cold! I think I should be going now!”” Dr. Nickers pulled the collar on his coat. “Here I go! For reals this time!" he saidfinally leaving the room.
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Cream Puff cheerfully adjusted the almost iridescent muffins in the box that Mrs. Cake had generously given her.
The whole kitchen had taken on a rich creamy, buttery aroma with hints of bright lemons and playful blueberries tumbling in the air with caramelized notes of raw sugar.
She looked over the fruits of her and Fluttershy's labor and felt a swell of mixed emotions. On one hoof, she felt pride in recreating one of her Ma's recipes, on the other hoof, sadness that it wasn't H.B. who was the one to help, and still on the other other hoof, grateful that she even got the opportunity to cook anything in an actual kitchen!
But of the nine muffins that had been produced, she had saved four on a plate with a small note written expressing as much thanks as she could in what space a three by three sticky note folded in half could.
"Would you like my help carrying the box?" Fluttershy asked, her mane dusted with flour bits of dried batter.
"Nah, Ah got it, Missus Fluttershy!" Cream Puff replied, closing, taping, and then carefully edged the box onto her back.
"Maybe the Cakes could spare a ribbon, to help secure the box in place? After all, we wouldn't want anything to happen to the muffins on the way to the hospital..." Fluttershy fretted feathers fitfully, flickering to and fro.
"Aw, yer worrin' too much, Missus Fluttershy," Cream Puff began only to see the mare's clearly frazzled, fearful, frightful state. "Although, it never hurts ta goin’ an’ takin’ extra care in a special delivery! So if yer willin’ ta bow me up with a ribbon, Ah’d gladly take yer kindness!”
Fluttershy visibly relaxed and fetched a pink ribbon that was clearly meant for Hearts and Hooves day as it was adorned with red and white hearts. Gently wrapping it around Cream Puff’s barrel, she secured the box with a cute bunny eared bow.
“Is that good?” Fluttershy asked.
Cream Puff moved a bit and made a sharp spin to test the bow. “Yup! Yer pretty good at tyin’ knots there, Missus Fluttershy!”
“Please, you can just call me ‘Fluttershy’... uhm, if that’s alright with you...”
“Oh, okay then!” Cream Puff flexed a bit. “Yeah, yer still really good at tying them knots an’ bows Mis... uhm...” She stopped, catching herself. “Fluttershy.”
“I’ve had practice and watched Applejack and Rainbow Dash quite a bit,” Fluttershy said, picking up her things and going towards the door.
“Huh, Ah guess workin’ on the farm, Missus Applejack would need ta know her way around a rope. What with all them critters she’s got.” Cream Puff concluded following after. “But why’s Missus Dash involved?”
Fluttershy blinked and the tiniest of blushes pasted her cheeks as they were about to walk out of Sugar Cube Corner. “Well, uhm I-”
“Mind Stowing’ that thought for a hot minute?” Cream Puff asked, turning her head back. “Missus Cake! We cleaned up the best we could an’ are gonna head out now!”
Just then, Mr. Cake quickly rounded the corner, his frantic frazzled face looking at the departing ponies pleadingly.
“Ssssssh!” he hushed with desperation in his eyes. “Sorry, but Mrs. Cake just got the twins to sleep, and I need to take a tally of the pistachio nuts!”
“Oh! Sorry!” Fluttershy squeaked, her ears drooping. “We just... uhm, needed to make sure that you or that somepony knew that we were leaving now...”
“Oh... Alright... thanks!” Mr. Cake said, looking over a list and trying to check something.
“Mr. Cake, Sir? We left ya’all somethin’ on the kitchen counter as a thanks on accountin’ ya’all allowed us ta go an’ use yer kitchen an’ all...” Cream Puff shyly said, fighting to keep her voice down. “Ya really would like it, seein’ that ya look like ya need a break.”
“Huh? Oh! Thank you, Cream Puff!” Mr. Cake said, looking up from the paperwork.
“Nah’, Ah’ should be thankin’ ya’all! Ya’all be havin’ a sweet day, Mr. Cake!” Cream Puff said, walking out the door and turning back to Fluttershy. “Now,... uhm... oh yeah, why’s Missus Dash helpin’ Missus Applejack with her ropes?”
“Oh, well-” Fluttershy began, the door closing behind her.
Mr. Cake sighed and after a bit, processed what the cream colored blob had said. “You know what? I do deserve a break!” he said, folding up the paperwork and stuffing it in his tail pocket.
Coming into the kitchen, he nearly passed the plate of delicious looking muffins, but their warm, luscious, buttery, lemony, blueberry delicious aroma practically stopped him in by his nostrils and pulled him back.
“Mmmmmm!” He exclaimed, taking a good long sniff of the gift left behind.
After going to the fridge for a pat of butter, he proceeded to slice one open and was greeted with the wafting of light flavorful steam.
“Ooooh, yeeeah...” He grinned, buttering the opened and after which he took a generous bite, his eyes rolling back as the dazzling flavors danced on his tongue. Suddenly, he felt a gentle brush of a hoof on his shoulder that gave him a bit of a jump!
“Oh, what’s going on here now?” Mrs. Cake asked, giving a playful side eye to her husband. “Been a while since I’ve seen that look in your eye... Should I be jealous? Leave you two alone to... finish?” she teased playfully.
Mr. Cake's eyes went wide in surprise at the sudden appearance. He then pushed to swallow hard and poured a cup of strong coffee before gulping it down to get the muffin matter to pass. “Oh geez...”
“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to startle you, I was just giving you some crust!” Mrs. Cake cried with a bit of panic in her voice.
“Y-yeah, I’m good, whew!” Mr. Cake gasped after regaining his composure. “Just having one of these fantastic muffins Cream Puff left for us! Want a bite?” he asked, offering some up.
“Tempting, but I had a large lunch and I’m just burnt out from getting Pumpkin and Pound down... but maybe later.” she replied, yawning. “Are they as good as your face is making them out to be?” she hesitantly asked.
Mr. Cake finished his treat and then drank the rest of his coffee. “I would say almost as good as Puff Pastery’s...” he replied. A small quiet grew between the married couple. “You know, we could maybe give her an apprenticeship...” came the suggestion that broke the silence.
“Oh, I don’t know, we can’t just kick Pinkie out!” she waffled.
“We don’t have to do that, she could maybe stay with your friend from the FillyDelphia cooking school... Bitter Sweets?” he suggested.
Mrs. Cake looked hesitantly at the floor. “Maybe but I...” she bit her lip and swallowed really hard.
“Heeeey,” Mr. Cake put his hoof under his wife’s chin. “None of what happened with Puff Pastry or the B. Hive incident was your fault.”
Mrs. Cake turned teary eyed. “But I was the one that introduced them all to ea-”
Mr. Cake kissed his wife’s pole and she just closed her eyes and sighed contentedly, melting like so much butter on the muffins. He then looked his love deeply in the eyes. “You can’t keep blaming yourself for the mess in somepony elses’ kitchen, Cupcake. They made their choices and the consequences were a bunch of burnt bakery goods. All of that was completely out of your hooves, what is within our power is a chance for that little filly to maybe get a shot at a life and away from that awful orphanage.”
Mrs. Cake sighed. “I suppose you’re right.” She quickly pecked him on the lips and tousled his chest fluff. “I can talk to Bitters about it tomorrow and see what she thinks. Until then...” She snagged the paperwork from his tail. “I’ll take care of this if you make sure that the twins stay napping...”
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Rat ran through the three labyrinthine maze of tunnels and twists, hurrying as far as his little legs would allow him to scurry.
He had to get to that pony vet place! Get there before Angel Bunny! Stop that rabbit before he could do something worse!
How could a little rat get all the way to a place like Sugar Cube Corner that was near the center of town to the Ponyville hospital that was more near the outer edge?
Magic.
Now, dear readers, it's not like the magic of the ponies or the other myriad of higher species that call the land of Equestria home.
It's not the spell craft that unicorns boast about, or the weather warping of pegasus, or even the Eponain plant growth of the earth ponies.
It might not be any of those things, but as long as any creature lived, ate, slept, and breathed in the land of Equestria while calling it home?
There would always be a spark of some kind of magic within them.
It is different among every member of the Ovid: Rabbits were swifter than the wind, dogs could always find their pack and knew when a pony was bad, cats knew the secrets that others did not, owls had the wisdom others could not, reptiles knew the things that others were meant not to know.
Rats have many of those things, but they have something more. Rats have the knowledge of all tunnels and mouse holes in the area of living and with that power, they could Warp the very fabric of storage and arrive somewhere without breaking a sweat.
Jump up, another jump up! Drop down, further down! Go left! Go right, left, right, tunnel B, tunnel A, down out this mouse house and he was at the pony vet!
"But where is the Heartbreak pony?" Rat asked himself, scampering up into the white cork board tiles of the ceiling so he could have a better scope and stay out of the view of any of the ponies...
He was after all... a rat...
"I, Rat, could hear Angel Bunny now, wuffling about how he is a filthy, sickness spreading, disgu-"
"H.B.!" Came the joyous cries of a familiar sounding little filly. "Yer OK!" she giggled happily, rearing and kicking about. "Oooh, ya got yerself there an awfully purty cast!"
"Please settle down, " a nurse pony with golden eyes, a black mane, and sandy tan coat requested. "We have patients that are resting."
"Sorrah, Ma'am, thank you ma'am." The Cream Puff filly apologized.
‘
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"You got that book back to...” She looked confused for a moment. ”Nurse... Biscotti? Nurse Redheart?" The tan mare asked the nurse pony, her eyes narrowing at the cover. "More with a kind-"
Nurse Goodfilly promptly lowered the book so the cover couldn't be read. "There's no need to act so rudely, dear Heartbreak."
"H.B., please." Heartbreak snorted, staggering as she realized she couldn't stomp her hoof.
"Fine, H.B.," Goodfilly retorted. "I would have shared what I was reading, but you took that tone with me and Nurse Redheart will get the book back when I'm done with it. I swear, just when I think I'm about to put it down, the author adds five more chapters with unprompted backstories, a load of the main character complaining, unnecessary exposition, and fourth wall breaks. Good thing she's a somewhat competent writer with an excellent editorial staff, else I would have stopped reading ages ago!"
The Heartbreak pony only rolled her eyes. "I just thought you could have asked Cream Puff to be quieter in a nicer tone... I didn't ask for an info dump..."
"I'm merely doing my job..." Robyn muttered to herself. "Oh, and the main character is a bit compelling and ever so cute!"
"Can I sign yer cast, H.B.? An' why is it that purpley color?" Cream Puff asked, still in an excitable mood.
"Maybe when we're back at my house and I'm not feeling like my head is going to explode. Fetting Dr. Nickers gave me something that was strong, and I just want to lay on my couch and pretend like I don't exist for a while..." Heartbreak ended bitterly. “And Pinkie chose the color.”
Cream Puff looked a bit upset by H.B words. "But if ya didn't exist, then Ah couldn't give ya the muffins that flyers an' Ah baked up!" she said tearfully.
"Yeah! And if you didn't exist, then this world wouldn't exist! We wouldn't exist! This story taking place around you wouldn't exist!" Pinkie Pie proclaimed practically prancing in place before grabbing Heartbreak's face and squeezing her cheeks while starting into her eyes frantically!
Heartbreak jolted for a moment and then tried to swat the pink pair of hooves away, only to find herself almost toppling. "Pinkie, I'm not sure we've had this talk before, but my space is important to me. Let go. Wish, everything would still exist whether or not I was here."
"But what if it didn't?!" Pinkie pinktificated anxiously.
"Then that would be solipsism, and the last thing I need is to be a solip-sue, ‘cause A: it would literally be the worst thing in the world, and B: the most terrifying thing ever, and C: and this is important, something I don't want to talk about anymore because it's pointless." Heartbreak replied, pushing up her glasses pointedly.
"But-" Pinkie protested.
"Pinkie..." Fluttershy put a gentle hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Maybe now isn't the best time..." she said with clear exhaustion in her voice.
"Alright..." Pinkie finally conceded.
Heartbreak sighed in relief before noticing Cream Puff’s bright eyes and wide grin looking up at her expectantly. "Uhm... yes, Cream Puff?"
Cream Puff looked a little disappointed before rebounding and rocking back and forth on her hoof tips. "Ain't ya gonna ask about the muffins Fluttershy an' I made?"
"Aaaaat Sugar Cube Corner!" Pinkie added.
"Yeah!" Cream Puff nearly fell over because of how high she was on her hoof tips! "Whoa! It was so great, H.B.! There were so many bakin' things, an' cookin' things, an', an'! Just wowie!"
Heartbreak couldn’t help but grin at her unrestrained joy. “Sounds like you all had a really good time.”
Cream Puff snuggled up to Heartbreak’s unbroken leg and looked up at her with an eager knowing grin. “Buttered cinnamon biscuits, did I ever have the time of mah life! An’ it was really kind of Pinkie Pie ta get Missus Cake ta let me use their kitchen!”
“Yeah... it was, I suppose,” Heartbreak replied, as gently as she could muster.
“An’ it was really kind of Fluttershy ta help me in the kitchen makin’ the muffins!” Cream Puff then leaned up against the eepable fluttering pony who, as one might expect, proceeded to eep and flutter as the attention was drawn to her.
Heartbreak blinked and forced a smile. “Yeah... I suppose it was...” she said, sorta repeating herself.
“An it was reeeally kind of Pinkie Pie ta come an’ check in on ya at the hospital! An’ kind of her ta’ bring yer saddlebags! An’ awfully kind of her ta drop yer bike off at the shop! An-”
Cream Puff found herself being cut off by Heartbreak’s hoof quickly but gently covering the young filly’s mouth.
“Yeah...” She turned her head and looked directly at the ponies who were supposed to be her teachers. “I suppose it was really kind of them to do all that so much that I can’t wait to have a talk with them about how kind it was...” Heartbreak said through almost gritted teeth before she pointedly pushed up her glasses...
=========
Rat watched as both the pink and yellow ponies gave each other uneasy glances as the Heartbreak... the H.B. pony glared them down over something...
“Rat is not sure where the sudden hostility came from, but maybe...” He shook his head, his little ears wiggling about. “No! Focus! Angel Bunny will be arriving with his blade! Rat must be vigilant!”
With keen bright rodenty eyes he surveyed the room from above. Rabbits may not have had the maze running ability that ratking had, but the magic in their legs and to some extent ears meant he could arrive at any moment!
“Yer not mad at them are ya?” the little filly asked, in distress in her voice.
“Why would I have a reason to be mad at them?” The H.B. pony asked, her eyes narrowing at the two.
“Cause they... uhm... they sorta told me that...” She looked around, the odd nurse pony seemed distracted by a book... “They gone n’ told me that yer needing’ ta write a letter ta the Princess..” she said in a hushed voice.
“Oooh... did they...” H.B. pony replied, a disapproval gleam behind her glasses.
“They didn’t mean anythin’ bad by it!” The cream filly protested.
H.B. pony took a deep breath and let it out her nostrils. “Maybe not... “ she said, the prickly posture of her body language relaxing a little. “We’re just going to have a little chat later... Right now... I just want to get home, recover, and do some writing...” she looked at Fluttershy. “Involving, you know what...”
Fluttershy’s face brightened up. “Really?” she asked, her eyes virtually glimmering with joy at the prospect.
H.B. pony sighed. “Yes, really. I think there's enough here to cobble something together for a good letter.
Both the Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy jumped in place and pranced about before the nurse pony hushed at them to settle down!
Fluttershy pony giggled. “Sorry... I’m just really excited to help H.B. write this letter.”
“With the way you’re acting, I would think that you’ve been waiting over a decade!” the nurse snarkily said, putting a hoof under her chin and grinning a snaggle toothed grin.
H.B. pony sighed. “Can we please just get me back home so I can start my seemingly endless recovery?”
“Oh, right, of course... I’m sorry, H.B.” Fluttershy pony said, starting to head to the door in preparation to open it.
“Oo! Oo! Oo! If you want to, you can ride on my back, H.B.!” the Pinkie Pie pony exclaimed, jumping up before crouching down to the ground.
“Don’tcha think that’s a little strange, Pinkie?” the H.B. pony asked, her face turning askew.
“What? Not at all! What’s wrong with a pony riding another p-” The H.B. pony’s free hoof shot up to the Pinkie Pie pony’s mouth, cutting off the question before it had a chance to enter small ears.
“Nothing, Pinkie. Nothing. Forget I asked or said anything.” the H.B. pony said with a bright blush on her cheeks and a mortified look on the rest of her face.
“Okie-dokie-lokie!” The Pinkie Pie pony said, grabbing one of her ears and pulling down. Rat swore he heard the terrifying wet flush of the monster kept in some homes known as... the toilet... “
“Great...” The H.B. pony muttered, starting to hobble more to the door.
“Wait!” the cream filly exclaimed, opening the box on her back and pulling out a simply scrum-diddly-umptious looking muffin. “Don’tcha still want a muffin before we go?” She offered it to her favorite mare. “Fer the road!”
The H.B. pony looked thoughtful, then her stomach growled at her. “It has been a while since breakfast at the Strawberry Sweets Shake Shack... I mean, we are going to walk back.” Her stomach expressed its yearning once more, this time even louder. “Ah, fet it. What's the harm? I could have a few bites now and a few bites later.” she opened her maw to take a bite.
Rat shook his head and continued his frantic find the hare game. By the mad rat god! Where was that white fluffball?!
The H.B. pony stopped. “There’s no sunflower seeds in this, right?”
“Nope! We made sure of that!” the cream filly jubilantly assured.
“That’s right.” the Fluttershy pony said, once the H.B. pony had taken a bite and started chewing. “After all, I remembered that you have a sunflower seed allergy.”
Rat stopped searching and his little body ran cold.
The H.B. pony chewed happily, taking the flavors before stopping midway after the third bite.
“Fluttershy...” she started, the look on her face growing grim. “Are you sure that there aren’t any...” she chewed again, this time her tongue emerging from her mouth. “Sunflower seeds?”
“I-I’m sure!” the Fluttershy pony stammered her confidence starting to waver. “W-why do you ask?”
The H.B. pony moved things around in her mouth, her lips pursuing and unpursing before she stuck out her tongue to reveal at least nine sunflower kernels.
“O-o-oh n-n-no!!!” The Fluttershy pony shrieked her wings splaying, feathers flying about!
“Ah swear we did put any in-Ah mean we didn’t put any in, H.B.!” a panicking cream filly exclaimed, tripping on her own words! “Them there sunflower seeds were high on a shelf! They had an’ ah know fer a fact we didn’t put any in!” she wailed, tears welling in her eyes!
“Spit it out! Spit it out! Spit it out!” The Pinkie Pie pony punctuation after procuring a waste basket from behind the nurse’s desk and placing it over the H.B.’s face!
“Pft! Pt! Pt! Please, every p-pony! Calm down! It’s only ah-ah-ah-wachuuu!” the H.B. pony sneezed. “A-ah-ah-mInor-ah-errg-gee-chuu!”
The four ponies present watched in horror as the H.B. pony became a violently sneezing, gasping for air, a mess of shaking and thin blood streaked mucus that ran down her arm from her nose.
“Nurse! Nurse! Nurse Goodfilly! We need your help!” The Fluttershy pony whinnied terrified.
“I’m on it. I-”
Rat ran from the scene unfolding before him. He dove through the hole in the wall and dashed through the mazes. He couldn’t watch. Memories of the day that Ruby fell ill thrust themselves into his whiskers.
The sneezing. It started with the sneezing. Then the blood. Then the fever! He ran when the fever came, that’s when the parents threatened him!
Breathing heavily, scurrying frantically, the bright summer sun burned his little yellow eyes as he exited another rathole outside the hospital.
Suddenly and without warning, there was a blur of white and a thump on the ground.
Rat’s head turned to the direction of the sound, little arms raised, mouth agape, and there now stood a most terrifying sight.
Arms crossed over his fluffy chest, ears up straight and pointy, eyes black and sparkling, Angel Bunny loomed over Rat, his nose twitched before a twisted cruel rabbit-toothed wide grin swept over her face.
“Well done, Tip Rat...” Angel Bunny said, his grin growing even wider... The sound of a mare’s voice pleading for it to ‘please stop!’ between painful pony sneezes heard from the window above. “Angel Bunny could not have done this without your help...”
Rat could only raise his little paws to his mouth and squeak in horror over what Angel Bunny had pulled him into before bolting back down the rathole to flee it all...