//------------------------------// // In Sickness // Story: The Last Something Sweet to Bite // by Knackerman //------------------------------// "Whoo-wee Sunset, ya look more wore out than Granny Smith's old tractor," said Applejack with a look of concern as Sunny set down her lunch tray at their usual table, "And she inherited that from my great-great Aunt Appleseed! That's a right nasty goose egg ya got on yer forehead there too. Are ya feelin' alright?" Sunset sat down with a flop, her hair nearly ending up in her mashed potatoes and gravy, "I guess? No, not really. I've been having an awful day," she said, moving around her food listlessly with a spoon. "I've been sleeping terribly lately and I think it's starting to catch up to me." "You and everyone else darling." said Rarity as she finished daintily chewing a piece of watercress sandwich, "Why, I've barely been able to get my beauty rest at all with the Fall Formal right around the corner. I've had students and even a few teachers dropping by my little sewing room for adjustments to their attire. Of course, I've been helping Pinkie Pie with the party planning as well. Between all that and classwork, it's a wonder I've had time for any rest what-so-ever!" she cried dramatically while taking a file to, what looked to Sunset Shimmer, a flawless fingernail. "Can't say Ah've been gettin' the rest Ah really need lately come to that. What with that fruit bat infestation back at the farm and all, Ah mean. Fluttershy's been a big help getting the new sanctuary up and going though," added Applejack, smiling across the table at her animal loving friend. It seemed that there was something vaguely awkward there, so she quickly add, "Ah reckon Ah have noticed a few students looking a might haggard and apprehensive though," Applejack continued thoughtfully. "Ah 'magine it's only natural after what happened at the last Fall Formal. No offense Sunset." With a heavy sigh, Sunset responded with her routine reply, "None taken." "Oh, well I'm sure it's not all Sunset's fault," said Fluttershy quietly over her salad. "I mean like you said AJ, we've been busy relocating the fruit bats in your orchard, Rarity and Pinkie Pie have been busy planning the formal, and Rainbow Dash has been..." The meek teenager suddenly stopped, as if she realized she was about to say something she shouldn't. "Er, I'm sure she's been very busy as well." "Do tell, darling!" said Rarity closing her compact mirror with a snap, suddenly very interested in the conversation. "I've heard that Rainbow Dash has been skipping soccer practice lately. How very unlike her. Do you suppose it might have something to do with the rumor that she's been caught sneaking around with a new boyfriend?" "Boyfriends, actually..." replied Fluttershy, blushing brightly as she stared down into her lunch. "She's been, um, busy every since she started campaigning for Princess of the Fall Formal." Sunset's eyes shot up from her meal upon hearing this, a fork full of food halfway to her mouth hanging in the air, "I had no idea Rainbow was interested in pursuing the title this year." "Well Ah reckon the Fall Formal is just another form of competition," said Applejack reasonably. "Y'all know how much that gal loves ta compete." "Oh well naturally, that's no surprise!" laughed Rarity with a knowing smirk, "But it is odd that she's chasing after boys. Rainbow Dash just never seemed like the type that would be interested in that sort of thing." she scrunched up her face and made a dismissive gesture as she continued, "All those sports, and sweating..." "Yeah she's always been a might busy for romance," agreed Applejack after a sip from her juice box. "No dear, I mean she never seemed the type that would be interested in boys, if you know what I mean," insinuated Rarity, waggling her perfectly groomed eyebrows. "Ah don't follow," replied AJ, genuinely perplexed. "Maybe she's secretly been replaced by an alien from another world that's luring unsuspecting boys to her lair where she can eat them up where no one can witness her terrible deeds!" cried Pinkie Pie, suddenly appearing with a lunch tray piled high with cupcakes, pancakes, and other sweets topped with a tower of whipped cream. None of the girls had noticed her arrival at the table. "Or maybe she just wants to find the perfect date to help her chances of winning the crown," the pink haired girl finished with a shrug. "Pinkie, have you been staying up with Maud watchin' them Sci-Fi and Horror marathon's again?" asked Applejack a might perturbed. "Well yeah, I mean nothing else is on when I'm up so late designing the banners and making confetti and streamers for the Fall Formal. It's that or infomercials, and Mom said I can't watch those anymore since I maxed out Dad's credit card ordering the Confetti Cannon 9000 for five easy payments of 99.99 plus tax, shipping, and handling!" Pinkie frowned a little after admitting to this, "It was supposed to be for his birthday." It was Sunset that broke the awkward silence that followed, "Say, where is Rainbow Dash anyways? Lunch period is almost over and I haven't seen her." "I think I saw her going into the nurses office," replied Pinkie Pie brightening. "She was pretty pale, so maybe she was feeling sick?" "Well now that's peculiar in itself," said Applejack tilting her hat back on her head, "Ah never known that girl to be sick a day in her life. Reckon we ought to go check up on her before next period?" "I'll go," said Sunset Shimmer rising from the table, her food uneaten. "You girls finish your meal, I'm not very hungry today anyways." Besides, thought Sunset Shimmer as she waved goodbye to her friends, I'd like to have a chance to talk to Rainbow Dash about her ambition for the Fall Formal. ------------------------------ The hallways were deserted, disturbingly not unlike in the nightmare she had when Sunset had fallen asleep in class. It was somewhat unnerving, but she could still hear the loud, rambunctious noise of teenagers enjoying their lunch period resonating behind her. Those familiar, if boisterous sounds comforted Sunset. She smiled as she thought of all her friends having fun, but she knew she couldn't rejoin them until she laid her sense of apprehension to rest. Though she was curious as to why Rainbow Dash had decided to run for Princess of the Fall Formal, that wasn't the only reason she wanted to talk to her. She had a bad feeling that there was something wrong. There was something off about today. Sunset had become sensitive to the presence of dark magic after having dabbled in it herself for so long. She'd felt it not long ago when the Dazzlings had tried to take over the school. While it wasn't quite the same feeling as she had back then, there was a sense of dread that sat in the pit of her stomach and refused to move. That's why she almost jumped out of her skin when she heard raised voices come not from the door to the nurses office she now stood in front of, but the vice principles office that was just a little ways further down the hall. As swiftly as they had arisen, the shouts were hushed, and Sunset thought she saw a figure looming on the other side of Vice Principal Luna's door. Ducking quickly into the nurses office so as not to be seen, Sunset Shimmer hid herself, but left the door open a crack so she could still hear the muffled words coming from Luna's office. They were quieter now, but not so quiet that the pony in a teen-aged body couldn't still piece together what was being said. "We need to take her to a hospital! I'm not qualified to give her the care she needs!" came a strained voice that she sounded like Nurse Redheart, "I could lose my nursing license over this!" "Calm down,"replied a much more level voice, though perhaps just a little raised to speak over the somewhat hysterical nurse. "The proper authorities have already been notified. This is not the first... Incident of this nature here at CHS. There is protocol to be followed." "Protocol, what protocol?" hissed Nurse Redheart, "I've never seen anything like this before. Are you telling me there are other students that have suffered from this... this disease in the past?" "Only recently. Principal Celestia and I are aware of a small rash of outbreaks, as are the local authorities," reassured Luna, "The safety of CHS's students and the peace of mind of their parents are of the utmost importance to us. This is why the unpleasantness with Sunset Shimmer and, later, the Dazzlings were never made public," Sunset recognized the tone in Luna's voice. She could just picture the Vice Principal steepling her fingers in front of her chin. "Neither will this incident be made public, until such time it is deemed that there is a viable threat to the safety of the other students or the public at large. Have I made myself clear?" "I can't believe you can be so calm about this!" replied the nurse, clearly at a loss for words. She paused for a moment, just long enough for Sunset Shimmer to detect the sound of heavy breathing. It sounded much closer than the two arguing adults. In fact it seemed to be coming from right... Behind her. As Sunset slowly turned, she could feel a chill run down her spine. In the distance, Nurse Redheart rallied, "If this isn't the only case then we have to assume that this is contagious. Unless we institute some kind of quarantine right now, there's no telling how many students might be infected! How many students probably already are! We can't just keep her here!" But Sunset didn't hear the rest of what was said. She was too pre-occupied with her own problems. The nurse's office looked normal. There were the same jars of cotton swabs and Popsicle sticks, along with Nurse Redheart's various paraphernalia for checking heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature. The scent of disinfectant was overpowering, but that too was the same as usual. Sure things were a little untidy and the thin paper sheet over the examination table was crumpled as if someone had recently sat upon it, but that was more an indication of sloppiness than anything truly wrong. Though, Miss Redheart had never been one for sloppiness. One would have to know how meticulous Nurse Redheart was about the tools of her trade to recognize the rush she was in when she had left her office. The reason, Sunset Shimmer could only assume, must involve the silhouette of a young girl that sat slumped behind a privacy curtain. Unsurprisingly, it was this that was the source of the heavy breathing. "Of course we can't keep her here. But neither can we risk exposing her to the other students, as you have said," Sunset heard Luna answer authoritatively over the sound of the mystery girls labored breaths. Sunset Shimmer had always hated that tone of voice, especially when it was telling her what time to go to bed. "That is why we will wait until after classes have ended for the day, and then we will move her off campus quickly and quietly as possible. Her parents will be notified then and the matter will be in their hands from that point forward. Until then, you are to keep her company, and if you must leave your office you will keep it under lock and key." "This just doesn't seem right to me. Shouldn't we let her parents know now?" asked Miss Redheart. Sunset Shimmer agreed, but then, she didn't know what was wrong with the poor girl, or indeed even who she was. A sudden mad impulse seized Sunset Shimmer. She needed to know who was behind that curtain. Pinkie Pie had said she saw Rainbow Dash going to the nurses office. What if it was Rainbow Dash suffering all alone? Even if it wasn't her, what if it was someone Sunset had interacted with earlier today? Would that mean Sunset herself might be infected already? Would the rest of her friends end up sick soon too? As much of a risk as it might be, she just had to know. Just a peek wouldn't hurt, surely? Steeling herself, she jerked aside the curtain. Trixie retched and doubled over just as Sunset twitched open the curtain, filling an already overflowing bucket with a thick stream of brownish red liquid. The vomit splashed on Sunset's shoes, though it was the smell that filled the teenager with revulsion and made her gag. The filth was everywhere, it drenched the floor as well as the front of Trixie's cloths. The normally cocksure girls face was streaked with tears as she looked up at Sunset with pain and pleading in her bulging bloodshot eyes. Another wave of vomit splattered the now pointless bucket and drenched the floor in a fresh coating of foulness. Sunset was almost certain she could see teeth floating in that horrid stew of what looked like blood mixed with chocolate. What exactly had Trixie eaten? Did she even want to know? There was something more in the poor things blurry glare than mere pain, and in a flash, Sunset Shimmer knew that this was a part of the darkness she had been sensing all day. Glaring up from her bucket, Trixie's glazed eyes seemed to focus for a moment. Her filth coated lips trembled as she softly sang, "Nightmare... *gulp* Night. What a *burp* fright..." A sudden hand on Sunset's shoulder made her shriek in surprise. "What are you doing!?" cried Nurse Redheart. She looked down at the mess Trixie had made and scrunched up her own nose in disgust. "Oh not again. Get out of here Miss Shimmer, class will be in session soon and Trixie deserves some privacy, don't you think?" "Yes Miss Redheart, sorry Miss Redheart," replied Sunset Shimmer backing towards the now open door. "What were you doing here anyway?" asked the nurse before she could slip away. "I was just looking for Rainbow Dash, a friend of mine said she saw her here." "She brought this one here about an hour ago. She's probably already at her next class, which is where you should be," Nurse Redheart busied herself trying to clean Trixie, but she only managed to smear the filth around the teenagers mouth as Trixie lunged for the bucket again. Sunset used the distraction of Trixie's great and powerful retching to slip away before Nurse Redheart could say anything else.