Chapter 3:
Rainbow Dash was having the strangest dream. She was lying on a pile of itchy, scratchy pine needles, her legs and wings tied up tight, while an ogre stared down at her. It seemed to be debating on how to cook her dinner—broiled, fried, or baked. She could even feel the fire it had started for the task, the heat blazing on her skin and making her sweat.
“No…don’t eat me…” she murmured. “I’m all stringy and boney…”
“Stringy and boney?”
Now, that was weird. Why would an enormous ogre have such a sweet, high voice?
“Rainbow Dash? Are you awake?”
And how in the hay did it know her name?
Confused, the pegasus drifted up from the dream and peeked out from under the blanket…only to find herself staring into a pair of bright green eyes hovering no more than three inches from her face.
“Aaiiih!”
With a hoarse scream, she jumped up and flailed away from the eyes, but the sheets and blankets had tangled themselves around her legs while she’d slept and she was trapped. She struggled and fought the confinement until exhaustion took over again and she went limp, hanging facedown off the bed with her eyes squeezed shut.
“Forget it,” she mumbled. “Go ahead, ogre. Just make it quick.”
“Ogre? I’m not an ogre. What are you talking about?”
Rainbow cautiously opened one eye and peered sideways. A tiny white unicorn was sitting on the bed beside her, watching her curiously.
“S-Sweetie Belle?”
“Yeah!” The unicorn smiled. “Were you having a bad dream or something? You were talking about an ogre and you called yourself stringy and boney.”
Rainbow Dash groaned and levered herself back up on the bed to lean against the pillows, kicking her legs free of the blankets. She noticed a little green teddy bear lying on the mattress beside her and picked it up, staring confusedly into its button eyes.
“That’s Bobo. If you squeeze his tummy, he squeaks!”
The pegasus curiously squeezed the bear around the middle, raising an eyebrow as it let out a high-pitched wail. The unwavering, sewn on smile and beady eyes started to give her the creeps so she tucked the toy under the pillow beside her.
“Rarity says you’re sick and we’ve got to take care of you. You look so strange, all spotty like that.”
“Thanks. Oh, my head is killing me.” She rubbed her temples with her hooves before looking at Sweetie Belle again. “How long have you been sitting there? I thought you were in school.”
Sweetie scoffed. “Yeah, like four hours ago. You’ve been asleep a long, long time.”
“Sure doesn’t feel like it. I’m still so tired.”
“Aren’t you hungry? Rarity said you might be hungry, so I made you a snack. You need lots of nutrients when you’re sick so you can get better. Look!” She bounced off the bed and lifted a tray from the floor, holding it out to the pegasus proudly. “See! I made you toast, and apple juice, and some cookies, and an orange, and pickles!”
“Pickles?”
“Uh huh! I love pickles.”
Rainbow Dash glanced skeptically at the food arranged on the tray. There was a small glass filled to the brim with amber apple juice, a plate with two slices of toast charred to a blackened crisp, an unpeeled orange, and the aforementioned cookies arranged on the same china plate with half a dozen pickle spears.
“I, uh, th-thanks, Sweetie…” Her stomach clenched at the thought of eating anything, let alone the odd snack before her. “It looks, um…well…”
“I know! Yummy, right? Here, have a cookie!” She held up a sugary circle covered in pink and purple sprinkles, one edge soggy and discolored by green pickle brine.
“Sweetie, I don’t think I can…”
“Oh, you’re awake! Wonderful! Sweetie, you haven’t been bothering Rainbow Dash, have you?” Rarity appeared in the doorway. “I told you she needs to sleep.”
“I didn’t wake her. I was just watching over her and she woke up on her own.” The filly set the tray down on the bed, hopped onto the mattress again, and sat back on her haunches. “I think she was having a bad dream or something. And I don’t think she’s hungry, sis.”
Rarity stepped up to the bed and peered at the tray, one sculpted eyebrow lifting. “Yes,” she gave a light, uneasy chuckle as she met Rainbow Dash’s pained eyes. “Well, I don’t think she’s ready for cookies and pickles yet. She’s probably better off with some soup.”
“Aw!”
“Maybe in a little while. The juice is a good idea.” She carefully plucked the full glass from the tray before it could spill and set it on the bedstand. “Why don’t you get her a straw to make it easier to drink?”
“Okay!” Her face brightening again, Sweetie Belle jumped from the bed and pranced out of the room.
“Well, she tried.” Rarity lifted the tray, wrinkling her nose at the burnt smell of the toast, and set it on the floor. “She’s been so excited to help me nurse you back to health. She even said you could use all of her toys if you get bored.”
Rainbow Dash reached under the pillow to pull out the green teddy bear, shuddering at the fixed grin.
“Yes, adorable, isn’t he? Now, how are you feeling, darling? You’ve been asleep for more than six hours. I was beginning to get worried.” As she spoke, Rarity walked around the bed and straightened the twisted covers. “My my, you certainly tossed and turned, didn’t you? It must have been some dream.”
“Ogre,” Rainbow Dash replied, and sneezed.
“Well, that’s uncalled for! I was just asking.”
“What? No, not you…in the dream. It was…it was an ogre.” She slumped down into the pillows, coughing into her hoof. “Six hours? Really? I feel like I haven’t slept in a week.”
Rarity tskd, tucked the blankets around her friend again, then held up a thermometer. “Here. Twilight sent Spike over with some instructions. She wants me to keep track of your temperature. Open up.”
The pegasus shook her head. “No thanks. I hate those things.”
“We need to know how high your fever is. Open up.”
“I’m fine.” Rainbow clamped her mouth shut.
“Open up, Rainbow Dash. Stop being so stubborn. Oh! Don’t you shake your head at me! Open up. Open. Open!” Her white hoof suddenly shot out and clamped onto the blue pony’s nose. Dash gasped, startled, and Rarity immediately popped the thermometer under her tongue.
“There! Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? Don’t forget I have a little sister, Rainbow Dash. I know all the tricks.”
Rainbow Dash glared at her over the bulb of the thermometer and crossed her legs over her chest stubbornly.
“Now…I’m going to make you some soup to go with your juice. What do you like best, clover or carrot?”
“Mmockli.”
“What was that, dear?”
“Mmnocoli.”
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
Pulling the thermometer from her mouth, Dash said, “Broccoli.”
“Rainbow Dash, how can we get a proper reading if you don’t keep the thermometer in your mouth?”
Groaning in exasperation, Rainbow Dash returned the thermometer under her tongue. “Weh oo axd!”
“What was that?”
The pegasus threw up her hooves helplessly. “Nvv mnd!”
“Whatever, darling. Broccoli, you say? Are you sure you wouldn’t rather a nice clover broth?” She watched her friend shake her head. “No? What about a sweet carrot puree…lot’s of vitam—you’re sure? Well, I guess I could make broccoli soup. I would have to go to the market to get some broccoli, of course.”
Rainbow tilted her head so she was peering up at the unicorn from beneath the fringe of her hair, her large magenta eyes pleading. She held out a pale blue hoof covered in bright pink spots and Rarity sighed, relenting.
“Alright. I suppose Sweetie could keep you company while I’m gone and come get me if there’s an emergency.”
“Cn tak care mmsef!”
“Yes, dear, I’m so sure you can. You just lie back and relax, drink your juice, and I will be back before you know it.” Picking up the tray, she left the room calling out, “Sweetie! Have you found that straw yet!”
“Erm, Wawity? Oo fegot th’ mometer! Wawity?”
A few moments later, Rainbow Dash heard the front door slam downstairs and hoofsteps as Rarity left for the market. Almost immediately after, Sweetie Belle appeared with a pink swirly straw.
“Found one!” she announced, plunking it into the juice and rearing up to put her hooves on the mattress. She gave Rainbow Dash a severe look. “Rarity said I have to make sure you drink all that juice before she gets back…so start sipping.”
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the bossy filly, but Sweetie Belle only frowned back and pointed to the glass.
“All of it.”
Shrugging, Rainbow Dash dropped the thermometer on the side table and picked up the glass. As she took a long, cool sip of Sweet Apple Acres apple juice, Sweetie checked the thermometer, shaking her head grimly at the reading.
The apple juice was cold. It felt nice on her sore throat, but caused her to shiver.
“Oh no…that’s not good. How can you be cold when you have a temperature? Do you need another blanket? How about a hot water bottle?”
“N-no…I’m good.” After seeing what the filly had done to the toast, she didn’t Sweetie doing anything with boiling water. “The j-juice is c-c-cold.” She took another sip, satisfying the little unicorn.
“Okay. Uh…are you tired? If you’re not we could play a game? I have lots of games.”
“A game?” Rainbow thought about that for a moment and realized that she was tired, but didn’t feel like sleeping yet. Not if her fever was conjuring up dreams of pony-eating ogres. “Okay…whatcha got?”
“All kinds of things.” Sweetie bounced off the bed and went to her closet, flinging the door open and rooting around. Rainbow Dash heard a series of thumps, bangs, and crashes and pushed herself up on the pillow to peer across the room. From her vantage point, she could only see a fluffy pink and lilac tail twitching back and forth as the unicorn dug about.
“You okay in there, Sweetie?” she called, coughing harshly.
“I’m fine! Do you want to play dominoes or checkers? Ooh! Never mind…I just found Bubble Jump. Have you ever played that? It’s really fun.” She backed out of the closet, a sweater caught in her mane, dragging a brightly colored box. “Here it is! You’re going to love this, Rainbow Dash.” She shook herself rapidly, dislodging the sweater, and jumped back on the bed. Sitting on one of the extra pillows, she unpacked the box and starting arranging the board, explaining the rules as Rainbow Dash watched.
“See…you have to get all your colored pieces to the home space by going around the board. But if you land on a bubble, it bounces you right back to the start. Here, I’ll go first and show you!”
Selecting the yellow tokens, she rolled a pair of dice across the board and moved two of her pieces, counting each space out loud. Her second token landed in a space marked by a bright blue bubble and she dutifully moved it back to the starting circle.
“Your turn!” she quipped. “You can be green.”
With a shrug, Rainbow Dash arranged her pieces and rolled the dice. Both of her numbers moved her forward on the board, avoiding bubble spaces and pulling ahead of Sweetie Belle.
“Aw yeah! I could get to like this game.”
Twenty minutes later, her opinion was rapidly changing when Sweetie moved her second yellow piece onto a yellow home square, while she had landed on three bubbles in a row.
“Are you kidding me! How do you keep doing that?” She lifted one of the dice and squinted at it. “Are these things weighted or something?”
Sweetie Belle laughed. “No, silly. It’s all luck…though you sure don’t seem to be very lucky.”
“Hey, this is my first time. I’ll bet you weren’t very good the first time you played.”
“Yes I was. I beat Rarity sixteen times in a row.” The little unicorn smiled smugly. “It’s your turn again.”
Grumbling under her breath, Rainbow reached for the other die, but stopped when she heard a door open and close downstairs. Sweetie immediately perked up.
“Rarity’s home.”
As if she had heard her sister, Rarity called out from the stairs, “I’m back! And look, Rainbow Dash, I brought you a visitor.”
“Visitor?”
“Hey there, Sugarcube! Ah heard you was feelin’ poorly and came to cheer you up.” Smiling broadly, Applejack sauntered into the room behind Rarity. “Ah was in town deliverin’ some apples to Twilight’s and she mentioned you’d caught some itty bitty bug so—” The orange earth pony stopped in midstride, her green eyes growing round as saucers at the sight of her friend. Her mouth hung open briefly as she got over her initial shock, then the corners twitched upwards in a snicker.
“It’s not funny, AJ,” Rainbow Dash said sulkily.
Applejack let loose a roar of laughter, tipping her head back so hard she had to hold her hat to her hair. “Lansakes, Rainbow! Look at you! You got more spots on you than a dalmation!”
“They’re called pegapox,” Sweetie announced. “They’re really bright, aren’t they, Applejack?”
“They sure as sugar are, Sweetie.” The country pony sidled closer to the bed, staring at Rainbow Dash and shaking her head slowly. “It’s just too amazin’. Why, if Ah wasn’t seein’ it with mah own two eyes, Ah’d never have believed it…Sweetie Belle, you got any markers around here?”
“Markers? Yeah, I have some.” Moving carefully so as not to upset the game, Sweetie raced to her desk and rummaged through a drawer until she found a purple marker. “Will this do?”
“Perfect.”
The filly carried it to the orange pony in her mouth. “What do you need it for?”
Applejack uncapped the marker and grinned slyly. “Ah wanna try to connect the dots and see if Ah can find a hidden picture.”
“What! You wouldn’t!” Scowling, Rainbow scurried back into the pillows as her friend approached. “Applejack, you keep away from me!”
Applejack laughed again and passed the marker back to Sweetie Belle. “Just kiddin’, Sugarcube. Now what in tarnation happened to you?”
Rarity and Rainbow Dash filled her in on the story, explaining the trip to Manehattan and the sick roommate and the sudden inability to fly that had left Rainbow Dash grounded in Ponyville.
“So Sweetie and I have taken her in to nurse her back to health,” Rarity concluded. To Rainbow Dash she added, “They were out of broccoli at the market, darling, and won’t have any more in for three days…but I got a wonderful bunch of watercress and some alfalfa so I’ll whip you up something fabulous.”
“But, Rarity, I don’t even like wat—”
“You sure you’re up to this, Rarity? If you want, I can take her off your hooves. We’ve got plenty o’ room down at the farm…and we both know how difficult Rainbow can be when she sets her mind to it.”
“Wh—hey! I’m sitting right here!”
“It’s quite alright, Applejack,” Rarity said, ignoring Rainbow Dash’s outburst. “I’m perfectly capable of handling her myself, especially in this pathetically weakened state.”
“Helloooo! You do realize I can still hear you two!”
“Well, of course you can hear us, Rainbow…we’re only standin’ two feet away!”
Rarity shook her head worriedly and leaned in close to Applejack. “The poor dear…I think the fever has made her delirious.”
“I’m not deliri—oh, forget it!” Rainbow fell back against the pillows and crossed her arms angrily over her chest. “When did I go back to being a foal?”
Sweetie Belle climbed back onto the bed and took her place across the game board. “Aw, cheer up, Rainbow Dash…it’s only going to be a couple of weeks.” She held out the dice, smiling innocently. “And it’s still your turn.”
**
Applejack stayed long enough to help Rarity make dinner, then left with a promise to come back tomorrow with a few bottles of fresh apple juice. After winning the game and the two following it, Sweetie left the room to start on her homework. Rarity excused herself as well, saying she had some sewing to do while Rainbow Dash got some much needed rest.
Alone in the bedroom with a bowl of watercress and alfalfa soup cooling on the table beside her, Rainbow Dash kicked fitfully at the blankets and tried to get comfortable again. It was dark outside, for Celestia had lowered the sun, and she was tired, but she couldn’t fall asleep. Every time she closed her eyes and started to drift off she would begin to cough or sneeze and her head would pound fretfully.
Moaning, she turned onto her side, then flopped onto her belly. A moment later, she spun to the other side and yelped as she came face to face with the beady, unblinking eyes of Bobo.
“This is not going to work…I don’t care how cute they think you are…to me, you’re just creepy.” Picking up the offending bear, she slipped out of the bed and, swaying woozily with every step, crossed to the closet. The interior was a jumbled mess of toys, clothing, blankets, and books, completely at odds with the rest of the room.
With a sigh of relief, Rainbow Dash hid the bear beneath a pink bathrobe and a picture book, then crept back to bed. She yawned as soon as her head hit the pillow and snuggled deep into the soft blankets.
She was sound asleep when the bedroom door cracked open and emitted a shaft of light across the floor. Sweetie Belle tiptoed inside, but stopped when Rarity’s voice filtered in from the hall.
“Don’t disturb her now, Sweetie. She really needs her sleep.”
“I won’t,” Sweetie called back in a whisper. “I just need to get my pajamas.” She trotted to the closet and dug through its depths until she found a nightgown. As she was backing out, she spotted a small, green plush teddy peeking out from beneath her bathrobe.
“Bobo…how did you get in here?” Picking up the bear in her mouth, she brought it to the bed and carefully tucked it in beside the slumbering pegasus. “There. Now you stay put and take care of Rainbow Dash. She needs you right now.” Flinging her nightgown over her shoulder, she stepped into the hall and shut the door behind her, plunging the room into darkness.
Unaware of the visit, Rainbow Dash slept on, watched over throughout the night by the bright, shiny eyes of Bobo.