//------------------------------//
// Day 2 Part 2 
// Story: A Venomous Queen & A Poisoned Princess 
// by Flikaline 
//------------------------------//


Day 2 Part 2


‘Princess Celestia,’ Twilight Sparkle said, ‘we came as fast as we could!’

‘Hello, Twilight Sparkle,’ Celestia replied in a graver tone than usual, before noticing her sister running up to her. Luna gave a sigh and shook her head. ‘No clue at all?’ Celestia asked.

‘No, my sister,’ Luna replied, ‘never seen anything quite like it; it seems it must be a very rare aliment. I have sent a group of ponies into the library to search through books on ancient illnesses.’ Celestia nodded.

‘How – How bad is it?’ Twilight Sparkle asked nervously.

‘Very bad,’ Celestia responded, ‘she seems to have a large amount of symptoms: aches, dizziness, pains, bad throat, occasional chills and fever, cold and hot sweats; she says her vision has become blurred too.’ The group stared. ‘She couldn’t sleep much last night,’ Celestia continued, ‘but whenever she did she had terrible nightmares but we don’t know if there’s a connection between the nightmares and her illness or not.’

When they all entered Cadence and Shining Armor’s room, they were greeted by the sight of the poor princess on the bed looking very pale and very weak, often tossing and turning, and occasionally yelling out in pain. 

Shining Armor, who was sitting on the bed next to Cadence, his eyes filled with worry, didn’t notice the group enter the room.

‘When did this happen?’ asked Twilight Sparkle.

‘It started yesterday morning,’ Celestia told her, ‘she collapsed.’ After a few moments, a thought crossed her mind and she spoke again, ‘I don’t suppose it could be an allergic reaction to the drink you sent her?’

‘Drink?’ Twilight Sparkle asked.

‘Yes, the drink you sent her.’ Celestia replied, ‘I’m sure you didn’t mean . . .’

‘I didn’t send her any drink!’ Twilight Sparkle spluttered.

‘But you left a note on it,’ said Luna before hurrying off to get her evidence.

‘That’s not my writing!’ exclaimed Twilight Sparkle when Luna returned, ‘and it’s not Spike’s either!’ They all looked over as Cadence yelled again and Twilight Sparkle suddenly vaguely remembered something she had read.

‘Um, Twilight?’ Are you okay?’ asked Fluttershy nervously. Twilight Sparkle’s feelings must have shown in her expression.

‘I need to go to the library!’ Twilight Sparkle said urgently, ‘Now!’

On arriving, she bolted through the shelves until she found the book she was looking for. When the others arrived, Twilight Sparkle was rapidly flipping through a book with the title ‘Potions & Poisons’. The group of ponies that Luna had sent to the library all looked over to see what was going on. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened.

‘Oh, no,’ she said, somewhere between panic and sadness, ‘I was right!’ Applejack looked over her shoulder.

‘That looks mighty bad,’ she said in a serious tone.

‘Um, are you sure, Twilight?’ Fluttershy asked quietly. Twilight Sparkle nodded grimly. Celestia looked over anxiously.

‘My – my n-niece has b-been poisoned!’ the princess spluttered. Luna came over.

‘It’s going to get worse by the look of it,’ she exclaimed, ‘a lot worse.’

‘Is there a cure?’ Celestia asked in a slightly panicked tone, ‘and how long does Cadence have before . . ?’

‘It says the length of time depends on the dosage,’ Twilight Sparkle answered, ‘Hang on, there’s a page missing! Somepony’s ripped a page out of this book!’ She was right. The page containing the method and ingredients was missing.

‘I bet if there is a cure, it was written on that missing page!’ said Luna bitterly. She looked more closely at the book. ‘It mentions nightmare in here!’ They all looked more closely. ‘Apparently, the victim will revisit their worst memories while they sleep but the pony who is responsible for giving them the poison, directly or indirectly, will be the most frequent presence.’

It was quickly agreed that Twilight Sparkle would carefully ask Cadence about her nightmares but would avoid letting her or Shining Armor know that she was poisoned as it would make them both feel a lot worse.

Twilight Sparkle quickly returned with a sigh, it was obvious now she thought about it. The others turned towards her.

‘It was the changeling queen,’ she told them.