Zecora took an exhausted breath. Looking up, she reflected a myriad of pony faces in her sad blue eyes.
"Apple Bloom is in stable condition. However... the venom's blight is far from going into remission." She cleared her throat, pacing across the quiet, tense living room of the Apple Family Home. "Soon, it will consume her, body and mind. It'll devour her nerves, starting with her spine."
Applejack inhaled sharply. She held hooves with Granny Smith and Big Macintosh who leaned in, collectively nuzzling her.
Rainbow bit her lip. Standing alongside Pinkie, Rarity, and the others, she returned her attention to Zecora's speech.
"Right now..." The zebra shaman pointed at the makeshift cot where Apple Bloom was lying on her back. "...thanks to our medicine, she sleeps in peace. But she will not last long, for she is quite diseased." She looked at the group as a whole. "Noir and I were able to sustain her. But such will mean nothing if we can't find a cure."
"But... but..." Applejack sniffled, wiping her eyes dry. "There is a cure... yes?"
"There was a cure," Twilight Sparkle said.
Everypony turned to look at her.
The mare stood next to Spike and Trixie. She hugged an old book to her chest, gazing across the candle-lit abode. "A long time ago... and I do mean long... as in before the founding of Equestria..." She gulped. "There was an abundance of flowers that populated the northern mountain tundra. Starswirl the Bearded wrote often of them, because they were a common herb used in alchemic and medicinal purposes."
"And just what was the name of this type of flower?" Rarity asked.
"Iced Lavender," Twilight explained. She glanced at Trixie, and the two nodded as she continued: "Legend says that they could cure everything from the common cold to manticore stings. In those days, before Tartarus was fashioned into a prison to hold the most elite of monsterous threats, creatures of ill-repute freely wandered the landscape at large. One such beast was a breed of vipers that we now call the Tartarusian Venomancer."
"The same thing that nibbled on poor Apple Bloom?" Pinkie Pie whimpered.
"I'm afraid so," Twilight said. "And Iced Lavender was commonly used to treat ponies who suffered bite wounds from this reptile. Starswirl even wrote a recipe for how to make a proper antidote through application of the flower's unique pollen."
"But..." Granny Smith's jaw muscles went tight. "...t'ain't none of these flowers left around for us to fetch, huh?"
"I'm afraid not, Ms. Smith," Twilight said in a wilted voice. "As you can imagine, everypony wanted to get their hooves on such a powerful ingredient. They had already become endangered by the time Clover the Clever became Equestria's first court wizard. Within a century, the only known samples existed in a special armory built to contain precious substances. But... the keep that housed this burned down over three thousand years ago." She gulped. "Since then, there's been absolutely no recorded sighting of Iced Lavender."
"Not even in them 'Northern Tundra' places?" Applejack asked.
Twilight shook her head. "I'm afraid not, AJ. But... by that time... the Tartarusian Venomancer had also grown endangered. Ponies took samples of their venom to try and find alternate ways of making antidotes, but that was several eons... and several wars ago. Most if not all of that research was lost, and history stopped taking note... because the Tartarusian Venomancer had grown so rare."
"But now, we've had an actual snake bite," Fluttershy said. "The first one in... what... recorded centuries?"
"That is correct," Noir's voice said. Half of the ponies flinched as he drifted into the candlelight. "There truly is no colorful way to paint this situation." He glanced at Zecora as he said, "We do no possess a known cure for Apple Bloom and her condition. All we can do is keep her in a stable coma, staving off the spread of the poison."
"Yes, but for how long?! A week?!" Applejack's voice cracked.
"If even that, my good friend," Zecora murmured. "It does not bode well for her in the end. If we cannot find a way to remove the venom's blight, then our beloved Apple Bloom will lose the fight."
Applejack fought another sobbing breath. The mere sound of it drove daggers into Rainbow's gut.
"Y'all said you can keep her in a stable coma," Granny Smith muttered. Her eyes rested on Noir specifically. "Reckon you've got some fancy tricks up yer fetlocks to make this happen as long as possible?"
Noir took a deep breath, leather wings flexing. "I've... considered relocating Apple Bloom."
"Relocating her?!" Stu Leaves stammered.
"Indeed." Noir nodded. "To New Saros. The low gravity there—as well as the abundance of enchanted artifacts—might allow me to establish some form of suspended animation."
"What's a New Saros?" Pinkie Pie chirped. "Never heard of it!"
"It's basically a portal to another world, made by the ponies dedicated to Princess Luna," Rainbow said. "...right?"
Noir's slitted eyes darted towards her.
"How..." Twilight gaped. "...how could you possibly know about that, Rainbow?"
Rainbow paled slightly. She looked down at the floorboards. "I... uhm..."
"She... undoubtedly heard me when I spoke of it to Zecora," Noir said. He cleared his throat and walked in front of Rainbow Dash. "All you need to know that it's a sanctuary to my own kind, and it's elongated the lives of those dedicated to the Lunar Code." His eyes narrowed. "It may be used to do the same for Apple Bloom."
"But to what end?" Trixie made a face. "Trixie knows a thing or two about suspended animation spells."
"Trixie—" Twilight began.
"No, we need to figure this out! For the kid's sake!" Trixie pointed. "Trixie agrees with the sarosian. Lunar technology can be used to keep her asleep... but what about waking her up?" She shrugged. "Assuming we even come up with an alternate antidote, will she still be who she is when she opens her eyes?"
"What... wh-what do y'all mean?" Applejack cooed.
Twilight bit her lip. Ultimately she said. "The longer she's in... stasis, the more she risks permanent brain damage."
The Apple Family looked at Noir.
He exhaled and said, "It's true. Even if there's a cure to her condition, the work that Zecora and I have done can only accomplish so much for her body. The mind is a different matter. Apple Bloom has a week at best. Suspended animation on New Saros might extend that to two weeks, but there's no guarantee that she will ever be the same."
"Two weeks...?!" Applejack stammered.
"Pffft!" Trixie's brow furrowed. "It's a heck of a lot better than two hours!" She glanced across the way. "From what I understand, Tartarusian venom is very potent!"
"That's right," Rainbow Dash said. "When I first told Zecora and Noir about it, they were pretty friggin' concerned."
"You might call our work something of a miracle, but it was simply that the timing was critical," Zecora said. "If Noir and I were just a few minutes late..." She gulped. "Let's just say the consequences would be great."
"I reckon so." Applejack's voice wavered as she attempted to speak calmly, evenly. "And... and I thank ya kindly for all the work you've done. All y'all... but... but I just..." She ran a hoof over her bangs. "It's still so sudden. I know I should be thankful, but..." She clenched her eyes shut as her body shuddered.
Stu Leaves rested a hoof on the mare's shoulder. He looked at the group. "So... what do we do now?"
Everypony was silent.
"I mean... th-there's gotta be something, right?" He clenched his teeth. "Six of us here are representatives of the Elements of Harmony!"
"Trixie fails to see what good that will do—"
"It's gotta mean something!" Stu exclaimed. "You girls took on Nightmare Moon! That seemed completely impossible at the time! Maybe... maybe there's a magical solution to this that none of Starswirl's books can even possibly know about!"
"I... don't think this is something that Harmony can solve," Twilight murmured. She shuddered as she added: "Or the magic of friendship."
Pinkie choked on a sob. Fluttershy leaned in to nuzzle her as the room fell quiet.
Rainbow fidgeted where she stood. She glanced across the room at Apple Bloom's dormant figure. "...maybe... the opposite of harmony..."
"Huh?" Stu looked over at her. "What was that, Rainbow?"
"I..." Rainbow glanced back at him. "I... uhm..." She bit her own tongue.
Stu was about to say something else when Granny Smith spoke up: "Half of y'all have some dang spectacular connections," the old mare stated. "I know it may seem askin' for much, but—"
"Say no more," Twilight said, waving a hoof. "I'll get in contact with my mentor Princess Celestia immediately."
"Is it time for what I think it is?" Spike said.
"Yes, Spike." Twilight swiveled towards him. "Take a letter right this second."
"If I may be allowed to add a hoofnote..." Noir trotted over. "Princess Luna may be something of a hermit ever since she returned from the moon, but I do think I may be able to grab her attention... with the right words."
"Any help would be wonderful, Mr. Noir."
"And I'll make a letter to the Canterlot Science Guilds!" Trixie exclaimed. "Assuming Spike can mail an extra letter for Trixie!"
"Consider it done."
"That's the spirit, everypony!" Rarity said, raising a hoof as she smiled. "Let us not give into despair! For Apple Bloom's sake!"
The room broke into commotion as everypony came together.
All the while, Rainbow Dash stared across the chamber. For a brief moment, she made continued eye contact with Stu. Then, with a deep breath, she dared to trot across the foyer, making her way to a certain farm mare...