The water burned coming back up. Two figures crouched over Sunset's body as she threw up the water in her stomach and lungs.
Sunset coughed and sputtered as someone rubbed her back. W-what--? Her thoughts were clouded, and her body felt too weak to protest the tenderness.
"Sunset! Can you hear me?" Applejack's voice pierced her mind, and she suddenly remembered what she had done. She groaned in response, sucking in air. She felt greedy, oddly enough, for breathing in so much.
"Thank God." She heard another voice, Rainbow Dash's, say. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
She could feel Applejack's glare over her head, and Rainbow went silent. Surely that girl wasn't that daft. The farmer, however, took off her jacket and placed it on Sunset's shoulders. "It'll be alright now, Sunset." The other orange girl shook her head sadly, a mix of shame at what she had done and defiance at the duo for stopping her. She wanted to say something, a harsh rebuttal, or a jab of some sort, but her throat was too sore and her mind too murky.
"C'mon," Rainbow said solemnly, "You need a doctor."
Fear shot through Sunset, a cold chill that rivaled the feel of her soaking clothes. "No." She said, despite the immense pain it caused her, "No doc-" She gagged again, but nothing came up. Her stomach was empty, but the pure fear that came with her realization of what she just did made her dry heave for several moments.
"Ah understand if you don't wanna see a doctor," Applejack said gently, "But at least let me take ya back to my place. Cheerilee is there, and she'll know what to do." There was a tone of authority in her voice, and Sunset was too weak to protest anyways.
"Okay." She said weakly. She offered no more protest, and Applejack picked her up slowly while Rainbow gathered her jacket and boots. Together they made their way back to Applejack's place.
Sunset sniffled and buried her face in the crook of Applejack's neck. Once again she felt she had failed, and once again she had burdened others with her problems. As if reading her thoughts, Applejack pressed her cheek to the top of Sunset's hair and whispered, "Things will get better. Ah promise. Element 'o Honesty, remember?"
In response, Sunset gripped Applejack's jacket tighter and nodded. "Sorry." She mumbled weakly.
"Don't go apologizin' to us. We're sorry fer not paying attention to your troubles." Applejack's tone changed slightly, "Maybe, if we had actually taken the princess's advice, ya wouldn't have had it so badly."
"We should have known you were having a hard time." Rainbow offered, "We were just too busy remembering how awful you used to be to give the new you a chance."
Sunset winced. "Not that I can blame you." She glanced up at the sky, suddenly wanting to see the stars again. She realized she had been very close to never seeing the sky again. That thought alone made her stomach tighten again, but she shook off the thought.
"We've all made mistakes." Applejack said finally, "Now we all have to work to fix this."
The other two nodded, and were silent until Applejack's house came into view. Sunset had just begun wondering if she was going to get sick from the little... event when she sneezed. And then sneezed again.
"She's already got a fever." Rainbow said, having reached over and pressed a hand to Sunset's forehead , "Let's hurry up and get her inside."
Above them the full sky seemed to blur, and Sunset had to close her eyes as Applejack picked up the pace. Her full on fear turned to worry and she wondered what was going to happen to her when they reached the house.