Cold N Flu Crusaders

by Brass Polish

2 Wolf River Tree

Rarity had returned from Canterlot, but quickly wished she’s stayed there. She was insistent that she and Sweetie Belle should have dinner together at the dining room table, but she couldn’t stand the sight nor sound of Sweetie Belle’s spitting. She insisted that she stop this unladylikeness, but the only way Sweetie Belle could do this was by sucking on lozenges, which spoiled the taste of her food. It didn’t even matter that Rarity had made soup in the hopes that it would soothe her sick sister’s throat; it didn’t help, and the flavour was ruined for her.

“You’ve barely eaten at all since you caught that cold,” said Rarity. “That could be what’s making your recovery so slow. And you know you can’t survive on ice cream alone. Remember what happened to Spikey-Wikey when Twilight was visited by her future self.”

“Ha! A stomach ache would be a picnic compared to this,” complained Sweetie Belle.

“Perhaps you ought to take a bath,” Rarity pointed towards the bathroom to indicate that this was not a mere suggestion.

Sweetie Belle scowled. “But the water makes me feel funny.”

“Don’t stay in the tub too long this time, and you won’t get so wrinkly,” insisted Rarity. “You know, perhaps you’d do better with a spa appointment.”

“It’s always the spa with you, isn’t it Rarity?” griped Sweetie Belle.

“Oh, stay in the tub all you want,” sighed Rarity, taking her own bowl of soup off to a different room.

Breakfast was no less unpleasant. Rarity hoped the other Cutie Mark Crusaders would invite Sweetie Belle to play with them after class; although the chances of her accepting were slim. Since Tuesday, a different foal had arrived at Carousel Boutique to walk Sweetie Belle to school. Nopony wanted to do it more than once. This morning, it was Nyx.

“You’re a good sport, Nyx,” smiled Rarity when she answered the door. “I’ve heard my sister has been short with you.”

“Oh. Well, I know she’s just upset that she can’t get over her cold,” Nyx attempted to smile.

“Hm. Why are you carrying Twilight’s correspondence book?” Rarity pointed to Nyx’s school bag.

“Oh. She had to go to the alternate world for something,” Nyx told her.

Why couldn’t she have taken me with her? Rarity thought bitterly.

“She gave me this in case something came up here,” finished Nyx.

Sweetie Belle waddled towards the front door.

“Are you…?”

Nyx couldn’t bring herself to ask the question. The yellow dripping from Sweetie Belle’s nose gave her the answer.

“Uh, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, “perhaps you should take a clean blanket with you?”

Sweetie Belle grunted and turned around.

“Nyx, might I ask you to invite Sweetie Belle to so do something after school?” Rarity whispered. “I do have a hefty order to fill today and I would like ample time to carry out my work.”

Nyx couldn’t say no to Rarity, but she wished she could.

Unfortunately, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo weren’t keen on playing with Sweetie Belle that cloudy afternoon.

“We’d rather wait until her cold goes away,” admitted Apple Bloom. “She’s no fun while she’s sick.”

“But her sister has work to do,” said Nyx.

“Maybe somepony else can keep her occupied,” Scootaloo suggested.

There were no volunteers.

“I’ve got my own cold to worry about now,” said Dinky.

“I think I’d rather do my homework. Unlike her,” said Featherweight. “She’ll probably get detention anyway.”

“I’m playing the last level of Livid Phoenixes tonight,” said Button Mash. “And it’s not a two-player game.”

Even several of the honourary Cutie Mark Crusaders avoided the task.

“Me and mom are coming the house for spider egg sacks this evening,” said Lazybug.

“I wanna make some more peppermint sticks tonight,” said Twist. “My supply’s running low.”

“I’ve got training on how to make cheddar biscuits with Randolph,” said Diamond Tiara.

And so Sweetie Belle was never approached by any of her classmates, and after the final bell rang, she staggered home to Rarity applying a dyed lace trims to a row of frocks. But Rarity wasn’t going to leave it like this.

“I thought I told you to keep my sister occupied for the afternoon,” she said crossly to Nyx upon barging into the CMC clubhouse.

“Y-you didn’t tell me,” said Nyx, clutching Twilight’s correspondence book.

“We don’t want to hang out with Sweetie Belle until she’s better,” insisted Apple Bloom.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t have her in the house while I’m working today,” Rarity insisted. “This order is very important. Please come and invite my sister to play with you.”

“Fine,” huffed Scootaloo.

They had no need to go back to the boutique to see Sweetie Belle.

“You didn’t think I’d be suspicious when you left your oh-so-important sewing job?” Sweetie Belle croaked.

Rarity’s demeanour was no longer firm and blunt.

“I beg your pardon,” she said, “but I only need one afternoon. I have a lot on my plate at the moment without your… um… provisos.”

Sweetie Belle shot a glare at Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Nyx.

“Sorry I said we didn’t want to hang out with you,” sighed Scootaloo.

“Yeah. We know you’re going through a rough time, and we’d like to help,” put in Apple Bloom.

“It’s OK,” Sweetie Belle nodded, still sour faced. “So, what are we gonna do while Rarity’s working?”

Rarity took this as her cue to return to the boutique.

“We could go skating,” suggested Nyx. “I haven’t seen anyone out on the ice since that first snowfall.”

None of the Crusaders had any objections, so they each went to collect their ice skates and made their way to the pond.

“What do you mean you didn’t bring your skates?”

“That would’ve meant going back home,” frowned Sweetie Belle. “And Rarity doesn’t want me there.”

“She won’t mind if you go back to grab your skates,” said Scootaloo.

“I don’t wanna skate anyway,” Sweetie Belle slumped next to the Wolf River Tree. “I’m just here to get out of my sister’s mane.”

“Wanna use my skates?” Scootaloo offered.

“Nah.”

Scootaloo groaned. “You’re not gonna get over your cold either way, so quit moping around and have a little fun for once!”

They stared angrily at each other for a moment.

“We’ll be out on the ice when you’re done driving everyone insane,” Scootaloo turned and slid out on the frozen pond.

Sweetie Belle didn’t move. She just watched icily as the Wolf River Tree gave Scootaloo a playful push out to the pond’s surface.

“I knew she didn’t mean it when she said she was sorry,” she grumbled, spitting in the snow by the tree.

Suddenly, the Wolf River Tree lurched. Sweetie Belle shuffled quickly away from it as it leant forward towards the pond. It looked like it was trying to pull itself from its perch in the frozen bank.

“Guys! The tree’s…!”

Already, Sweetie Belle’s voice went out. She couldn’t give Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Nyx an adequate warning as the tree’s roots began to break the rock-hard ground around it. There wasn’t much wind, so Sweetie Belle threw her empty tissue box out to the ice as hard as she could. It succeeded in tripping Scootaloo.

“What are you…?!”

The Wolf River Tree leapt from the ground and crashed out onto the sheet of ice, cracking it into several portions. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Nyx were stuck on a sheet of ice each.

“What’s that tree doing?!” cried Apple Bloom, as the large tree jumped into the freezing water. “It’s not Winter Wrap-Up time yet!”

The resulting wave caused Scootaloo and Nyx to surf to shore and wipe out on land. As Scootaloo picked herself up, she heard the tree splash about behind her.

“It’s after you!” exclaimed Nyx.

Scootaloo looked back at the pond, and sprinted away instantly, the Wolf River Tree stomping after her. Nyx bolted towards Twilight’s correspondence book, which had been lying by the tree before being flung aside, and frantically wrote an SOS message.

“Scootaloo, don’t run towards town!” Apple Bloom cried from the floating ice sheet she was still standing on.

But Scootaloo was too frightened and far away to hear.

The ground beneath Ponyville began to shake. There were few ponies outside, but the rumbling could be felt in the floors.

“It’s that tree!” exclaimed Thunderlane. “Everypony run!”

Scootaloo had calmed down enough to realise she was leading a rampaging giant to her home town, but by now, there were so few escape options.

“Where do I go?! What do I do?!” she wailed, not breaking stride.

The Wolf River Tree swung its branches and made a grab for Scootaloo. It missed, but Scootaloo tripped and rolled forward for a few yards before landing flat on her back. She gasped as she looked up at the huge tree making a second grab for her.

“I’m coming, Scootaloo!”

Twilight soared above Ponyville and raced towards the edge of town. She didn’t get to the scene before one of the Wolf River Tree’s branches swung out and grabbed Scootaloo, who screamed and flailed about.

“Cover your face!” called Twilight.

Scootaloo did so. Twilight cast her teleportation spell on Scootaloo. Scootaloo disappeared from the tree’s grasp, and as soon as she did…

Ka-Boom!

Bark, twigs, and pulp rained down on Ponyville, taking chunks out of rooftops, making holes in the ground, causing several small snowfalls, yet miraculously not hitting any ponies. Had Twilight not been shielding Scootaloo from the bursting tree, she might have managed to cast a force field over the town.

“Are you alright, Scootaloo?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo was shaky, but relieved. “I don’t know what happened. That tree was always so playful.”

“Didn’t anyone tell you? It got infected by Venomodo spit. It gained a life of its own and tried to destroy the town until Pinkie Pie spat on it and made it adopt her own mannerisms,” Twilight explained. “I guess the effect Pinkie had on it wore off and it reverted to the Venomodo’s desires.”

“Unless,” Scootaloo frowned, “it got somepony else’s desires.”

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.

“Somepony must’ve spit on it before it started chasing me,” said Scootaloo. “And I think I know who that pony was.”

“Maybe I did want to get Scootaloo for being a jerk,” Sweetie Belle groaned when Twilight asked her if she’d been spitting near the Wolf River Tree. “But…”

“Oh, I’m the jerk, am I?!” Scootaloo fumed. “At least I’m not a stick-in-the-mud about my cold.”

“You didn’t get a cold! And you should have! You took the most snowballs on the first day of winter, but I got the cold!” Sweetie Belle complained.

“So you wish I’d gotten your sickness, do you?” frowned Scootaloo.

“It did seem kinda unfair,” Nyx put in. “Sweetie Belle wasn’t a sore winner or anything. She bought us all hot chocolates after we were done. I’m- I’m not saying you deserved to be chased by that tree, Scootaloo. But… I just don’t know why this happened.”

Scootaloo sorted, but Sweetie Belle’s expression softened. She looked towards the town and the sound of complaining ponies.

“I think I know what Zecora meant now,” she said. “She told me that some things in life can’t be helped. She probably meant that everypony complains. It’s just what we do. If we don’t like something, we grumble about it.”

“In that case,” Apple Bloom called, “can somepony get me off this pond now?! I’ve been floating her for like ten minutes!”

“Remember how much fun we all had on the first day of winter?” asked Sweetie Belle after Twilight had returned Apple Bloom to solid ground. “The day after that, everypony got sick of it already. It seems like that happens every year.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. Everypony knows that winter’s an important season, but it seems like it’s only fun at first.”

“So I guess we can’t hold it against you for being such a sourpuss about your cold,” Scootaloo sighed. “I thought I was helping you by telling you to be patient, but all I was doing was causing you to lose your patience.”

“Yeah. And I should’ve took your complaining in stride,” said Sweetie Belle hoarsely. “I… I can’t keep talking.”

“Well, I’ll just assume you were going to apologise,” said Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle nodded.

“I’m sorry, too,” smiled Scootaloo.

She would have hugged Sweetie Belle, but she had an icicle hanging from each nostril.

It was certainly true that ponies are bound to complain when something bad or annoying happens. While the chunks of tree were being cleared away and the repairs were being made to various buildings and structures in the shivering cold, there was not a positive comment to be heard. However, when the mess was finally cleared up, the atmosphere in Ponyville lightened significantly. Pinkie Pie was unhappy to know that the Wolf River Tree she’d tamed was no more, but she managed to cheer up with help from her friends. As for Sweetie Belle, it took another week before her cold symptoms began to fade. Rarity and her classmates did their best not to complain about her, and she made an effort to keep her gripes to herself. A few times a day, someone would groan about Sweetie Belle’s cough, and she herself would lobby for ponies to leave her the heck alone. She knew not to take it harshly, as it was only equine nature.

Author's Note:

As much as I like Zecora, she's still a pain to write dialogue for.