Day Fifty Three
Infected: 1.013 Billion
Dead: 613 Million
As Spike began to drift back into the land of consciousness, a sweet scent met his nose. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see Fluttershy stepping into his and Sweetie Belle’s room, in her hoof was a steaming trey of pancakes. There were two plates, each with a different style of pancake; on the right was
Sweetie Belle’s with extra tulip peddles, and to the left was Spike’s with a dusting of emerald shavings.
“I’m sorry,” whispered Fluttershy. “Did I wake you, Spike?”
Spike smiled. “No, I just smelled food.”
At this time Sweetie Belle, who was sleeping next to Spike, let out a yawn before sitting up. It took her a moment to process why Fluttershy was in their room, but quickly realized upon seeing the trey of food. She smiled as the Pegasus laid the trey atop her and Spike’s laps.
“Fluttershy,” began Sweetie Belle, “You don’t have to keep doing this.”
The yellow mare only smiled. “Nonsense, you two are my guests, so it’s only right to treat you as nice as possible.”
Sweetie Belle let out a faint sigh, before looking to Fluttershy with a slight smile. “Okay Fluttershy, thank you.”
“Thmmk ymo” said Spike, who was currently enjoying a mouthful of pancakes.
This caused Fluttershy to giggle as she stepped through the door. “You’re welcome.”
“Hey Flutters,” called Sweetie Belle.
“Yes?” she asked as she poked her head back in.
“Is power rationing still in effect?”
Fluttershy’s expression took on a hint of sadness. “I’m afraid so. The pony on the radio said that Ponyville will be without power for at least another three days.”
Sweetie Belle looked down. “Oh okay, thank you.”
Spike swallowed the bit of food in his mouth before nudging his wife’s shoulder. “You’re still worrying about Rarity aren’t you?”
Sweetie Belle nodded.
“Trust me; your sister is going to be just fine.”
She turned to face him. “How do you know? You saw how bad things were in Manehatten, and Twilight has been telling us all about Canterlot.”
Spike gave her a reassuring smile. “Because I have hope, something I think you need a lot more of.”
The unicorn sighed. “I wish I had your sense of optimism, Spike.”
Spike quickly kissed Sweetie Bell on the cheek. “Listen, we can’t do anything at the moment but have faith, so in the meantime, how about we enjoy this meal Fluttershy made us and then go do something. Maybe we could play a board game with the girls.”
Sweetie Belle giggled. “Another game of checkers against one of the Princesses of Equestria and her best friend, I don’t think so. Fluttershy may be a lot of things, but checkers mastermind is not one of them.”
Spike chuckled faintly. “Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll think of something else for you.”
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Twilight paced nervously before the chicken coup. “I’m not sure about this, Fluttershy. Shouldn’t we be wearing a mask or something? I mean the black flu is an avian flu.”
Fluttershy shrugged and shot her friend a reassuring smile. “Trust me Twilight, we’ll be just fine.”
“But how do you know that they won’t make us sick?”
Fluttershy reached a hoof out to the door of the chicken coup. “Because, the black flu doesn’t infect birds anymore. The mutation that allowed it to latch onto the cells in our lungs are the same mutations required for the virus to lose its grip on birds.”
Twilight took a step back. “Still…”
Fluttershy let out a sigh. “You still want a mask don’t you?”
Twilight nodded.
The Pegasus gestured with her hoof towards the small cottage. “There’s a new box of N95 masks on the counter.”
“Thank you,” she replied before trotting off.
While Twilight was off getting a mask, Fluttershy decided to go about this the same way she had before; alone. She opened the door to the chicken coup, which sent the chickens into an uproar, but upon seeing their loving owner, they settled back down.
She reached down and picked up a small straw basket by the door. It had a plaid cloth laid inside it for padding.
Going over to the first chicken, she coaxed it up to reveal two eggs underneath. Carefully, she placed the two eggs into the basket.
“Okay, I’m back,” announced Twilight. Instantly the Alicorn regretted this for once again the whole coup was in an uproar.
It took Fluttershy only a moment to get the birds back under control, but it was a little longer than last time.
“Okay, so what do I do,” she asked.
Fluttershy handed her the basket. “You could hold this while I collect eggs please.”
Twilight nodded and grasped the basket with the glow of her horn. She stepped forward as Fluttershy lowered another bird’s eggs into the basket. “So, if birds can’t get the flu, are there any animals that can?”
Fluttershy nodded, as she went on to the next bird. “Yes, actually there are. Ferrets have a respiratory system similar to ours and are even used as an animal model for viruses. However, I’d worry most about pigs. They can catch both avian and equine influenza. In fact many believe that pigs may be the reason this whole pandemic got started. Thankfully though, I don’t own any.”
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While Twilight and Fluttershy continued to chat and collect eggs, Spike and Sweetie Belle were at work hanging cloths out to dry. Spike took out a wet sweater and placed it on the line as Sweetie Belle used her magic to place the clips.
“You sure these will dry like this? It’s freezing out here,” said Spike as he shivered slightly.
Sweetie Belle nodded. “They should, it’ll just take a little longer. And no, it’s not freezing. If it were, we wouldn’t be doing this.”
Spike looked over to the basket, to see it empty. “Okay, that’s all of them. What do you want to do now?”
Sweetie Belle stretched out her forelegs. “What I want to do is go to a spa, and waste an afternoon in a hot tub. Though I think I’d settle for a nice warm bath.”
Spike chuckled. “Sorry, but last time I checked, power rationing would still be in effect until Thursday.”
Sweetie Belle shot Spike a seductive grin. “And last time I checked, dragons could breathe fire.”
Spike smirked. “That may be true, but I don’t think this dragon is in a fire breathing mood. Besides, I was about to start on dinner.”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and slowly trotted past Spike, making sure to brush against him with her tail. “You sure you’re not in a fire breathing mood.”
Spike’s scales turned slightly red at this display of affection. “On second thought, this dragon may have changed his mind.”
The couple began to make their way towards Fluttershy’s cottage, but just as they did so, a particular purple pony rounded the corner. As soon as Sweetie Belle’s eyes met hers, she could feel her plans disintegrate.
“Hey guys, Fluttershy and I were about to start on dinner, would either of you like to help?” asked an overly cheerful Twilight.
Sweetie Belle shot her a look, but was only met with a sarcastic smile.
“Actually,” began Spike, “Sweetie Belle was going to take a bath.”
Twilight leaned forward. “And what about you, Spike?”
‘Don’t say it! Don’t say it! Don’t say it!’ thought the unicorn.
Spike scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, I guess I could help.”
‘Damn it!’
“Okay, thanks, Spike,” replied Twilight.
“Yeah, thanks, Spike,” muttered Sweetie Belle.
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As Spike diced the carrots for Twilight’s stew, he could feel a presence on the back of his head. He didn’t have to look, for he already knew it was Sweetie Belle staring at him, though this didn’t last long. When Twilight returned from the pantry, her gaze instantly focused on her.
The past few days for Spike haven’t been exactly the best. On one side, his wife, Sweetie Belle, had been wishing to spend more time with him, at the same time Twilight had wished for something similar, but in a less romantic sense. Based upon the hostilities between the two, one can assume that neither was getting what they wanted.
Spike was fully aware that this subtle “Cold War” would continue for some time if something didn’t cause attention to shift. Though his diversion may be dark, it would still serve its purpose.
He sighed. “Hey, if things don’t get back to normal, what’s our plan?”
The two mares just stared at Spike. They knew that if the pandemic progressed a little further, the question must be asked, but no one wished to be its messenger.
Twilight cleared her throat. “I assume we would just steer clear of major cities and gather what we can. You know basic survival stuff.”
“Listen, I know things are bad out there, but I don’t think talking about what to do after everything ends is a good idea. Our moral is down enough already,” stated Sweetie Belle.
Spike slid the carrots off of his chopping board and into the boiling pot. “I know, I’m probably just talking out my ass, and we’ll all look back at how stupid we were, but there’s still that ‘what if’.”
The room fell silent.
A few seconds passed before a yellow Pegasus came trotting out of the basement with two jars under her wings. She looked around at everyone’s expression and felt that she missed something.
“Well, who died now?” she asked.
The three chuckled slightly as the heavy atmosphere was lifted.
“No one,” replied Spike. “We were just talking.”
Fluttershy set the jars on the counter near the pot. “About?”
“The end of the world,” replied Sweetie Belle, with a hint of sarcasm.
The Pegasus nodded as she opened each jar. “Don’t rush it. It’ll be here soon enough.”
The seriousness in Fluttershy’s tone caused the room to fall silent once again. Had this not happened, it is unlikely that anyone would have heard a faint cry from outside. Spike was the first to hear it, and went over to the window.
“Help.”
Spike listened closer, trying to identify the voice’s owner and source. This didn’t take long, for only a few seconds had passed before he caught sight of Applejack. Her mane was a mess and tears streamed down her face as she galloped towards the cottage. The four made their way to the door, and each adorned their facemask as they exited.
“Please, Fluttershy! Twilight! I need your help!” she called as she continued to gallop forward.
“What is it?” asked Twilight.
“It’s my brother, Big Mac. He’s sick!”
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As the five entered the farm house, they instantly keyed in on the sound of crying. Applejack lead them to its source, Big Mac’s room, where Applebloom sat sobbing.
Fluttershy gave him a once over. His face was a discolored purple and his breathing slow and weak.
She turned to Applejack. “How long has he been like this?”
The cowpony wiped her tears as she spoke. “S-Since this mornin. Last night he said he wasn’t feelin good and went to bed early. Applebloom tried to wake him, and that’s when I went to get y’all.”
“So about fourteen hours?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah,” replied Applejack.
Sweetie Belle drew closer to the bed. She found her next question pointless, but still worth asking. “Do either of you have any Tamiflu?”
Applebloom and Applejack both shook their heads.
Expecting this, she asked “What about any vitamin D3?”
“We have multi vitamins, but I don’t know about D3,” replied Applejack.
“Just look, and if you find some, crush them up and stir them into a glass of water,” barked Fluttershy.
Both Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy made eye contact. They both shared the same look, one of doubt and uncertainty. They both knew the vitamins would probably fail, but they still needed to try. After all, the only other option was to let these sisters watch their brother die.
Just then, the red stallion began to vomit. Quickly, Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy turned him on his side so he didn’t drown in it.
“Big Mac!” screamed Applebloom as she went for the bed.
Twilight and Spike blocked the filly’s path.
“Applebloom,” began Spike, his voice warm and calm, “You need to get out of here.”
“No! I need to be with him!”
“Please. Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle are going to do everything they can, but you don’t need to see this.”
At those words, the filly began to put up less of a fight and slowly began to back away from her brother. Twilight and Spike were beginning to walk her out the door when she turned back and said “I love ya, brother.”
Once Fluttershy assumed Applebloom was out of earshot, she looked up to Sweetie belle and said “Look at the vomit.”
The unicorn peered over the stallion to see a thick red liquid mixed in with the puke.
“He’s not going to make it is he?”
Fluttershy looked down sadly as she slowly shook her head.
“What are ya talking about!” screamed Applejack. “You can’t just give up on him!”
Fluttershy avoided eye contact as she spoke. “Applejack, we’re sorry, but we think his lungs are beginning to-”
“Bull shit! Ya keep trying!” screamed the mare as she pushed past the Pegasus.
Sweetie Belle stood their coldly and decided to finish what Fluttershy was trying to say. “His lungs are ripping themselves apart, Applejack.”
“You’re a damn unicorn! Can’t you or Twilight’s magic do something?!”
Sweetie Belle shook her head.
“Then get out! If there’s nothing…” Applejack trailed off as she caught sight of something; a pink foam seeping from her brother’s mouth. His lungs had collapsed.
Slowly, Sweetie Belle lifted her hoof to his neck. Nothing.