The Sick and Bedridden Trixie
“Excuse me! Coming through! This is an emergency!”
I hardly saw where I was going. All I cared about was keeping my eyes on Zecora as she led the way. She was barking out exclamations in what I presumed was her native tongue, and ponies were leaping out of the way, muttering as we went. I heard some of them say,
“Is that Trixie?”
“I thought she’d left!”
“What’s happened to her?”
I didn’t care, though. I kept a headlong course straight ahead, Trixie hanging limply in my arms.
At last, we found ourselves charging up a hill, where Ponyville Hospital rested. We pushed our way in through the doors, charging into the lobby. The receptionist, a pink, rosy-cheeked Earth pony, looked up in surprise.
“Goodness me!” she exclaimed. “What’s all this?”
“Trixie…” I panted. “Need…Doctor…Fever…Horn…”
I had never run so fast or so hard in my life. My feet were throbbing, and there was a sharp stitch in my side, all of which I had ignored in the haste to get Trixie to the hospital.
At that moment, a door opened, and a unicorn stallion stepped out. He was a kind of cream color with a brown mane, wearing a white lab coat, glasses, and a stethoscope. His cutie mark resembled a heart monitor, and he was looking irritated.
“Nurse Tenderheart, what is all the commotion out here?” he asked.
“This gentleman, Dr. Stable,” said Nurse Tenderheart, pointing to me. “He says this young mare is in serious need.”
“She is!” I growled, through gritted teeth, mostly because of the pain in my side. “Doctor, she needs serious medical attention! She has a fever, and her horn’s been making weird splutters!”
Just as I said that, Trixie’s horn let off a loud, crackling spark, the glow feeble and wobbly, and then began making a low humming noise. Dr. Stable regarded her closely, then muttered, grimly,
“Goronide Bolezn…”
“Excuse me?” I asked, not having the slightest clue what ‘Gorey-Hide Bowl Resin’ was.
But the doctor didn’t answer that question. With a flare of his horn, he telekinetically drew a stretcher over.
“Place her down,” he said, briskly. “Quickly.”
I set Trixie down, and without another word, the doctor began wheeling her away down the hall, Zecora and I following close behind. As we went down the hall, Dr. Stable suddenly called through one of the doors.
“Nurse Redheart, will you assist me, please? We might have a G.B. on our hooves. Fetch an I.V. of Magus Stabilitus.”
We stopped at a ward door, and here the doctor turned to us.
“I’m afraid you can’t come through beyond this point,” he said. “She needs to be placed in I.C.U.”
“But-” I began. I didn’t want to just abandon Trixie like that…
“Thank you for bringing her in,” the doctor cut across, in a kinder tone. “You have my word that you will be informed when she may receive visitors.”
“O...Ok...”
He pushed the stretcher through the doors, and was accompanied by a white Earth pony mare, her pink mane done up into a bun behind her nurse’s cap, wheeling an I.V. with her. The doors closed behind them with a kind of finality, leaving Zecora and me alone outside them.
I sank into a chair by the ward, putting my face in my hands. Trixie was being put into intensive care? Just how seriously was she sick?...
I felt Zecora’s hoof on my shoulder, and I looked up into her almond-shaped eyes, full of understanding.
“Oh, Zecora,” I moaned, “I’m really worried about her...What is she even sick with?”
She gave a small sigh, then said,
“My answer will not be a stress reliever, but Goronide Bolezn is unicorn fever.”
“Well, I can see that!” I snapped, not really meaning to, but the stress of the situation was wearing down on me. “She’s a unicorn, and she has a fever! It speaks for itself, doesn’t it?”
Zecora, however, continued, patiently,
“A unicorn’s health is tied to its magic. If it goes out of control, the results can be tragic.”
These words sent an unpleasant chill through my frame.
“Very rarely does it take a fatal toll,” said Zecora, “but the unicorn’s magic goes out of control.”
“Thank goodness,” I said, relieved. “But, what do you mean ‘out of control’? You mean those sparks and splutters?”
“It may start out as those, my friend,” said Zecora, grimly, “but it becomes much more violent until the end…”
I gulped. That was a chilling thought...
“And all I can do is just sit here and let her suffer it out?” I asked.
“I’m afraid that is all you can do, except pray that she will make it through.”
“Oh, I’ll do that, of course,” I said. “But I just wish there was something I could do...”
I put my face in my hands again, and once more, I felt Zecora’s comforting hoof.
“Let us return to your house, you and me,” said Zecora. “We have not yet finished our tea.”
“...Yeah,” I muttered. “Yeah, let’s do that.”
I got up, numbly, and walked beside her, out of the hospital.
***
Even with the tea, I still felt at a loss for what to do. Trixie was in the hospital, and all I could do was sit by and let her suffer...
“I can’t just sit here, Zecora,” I said. “I have to do something...” I groaned and rubbed my temples. “What would Pinkie do in a situation like this?”
“Pinkie Pie, one so hearty?” asked Zecora. “I know she would throw a party.”
“What, a ‘Trixie’s Got Unicorn Fever and Is In the Hospital’ Party?” I asked, bitterly.
“That is not funny, my human friend,” said Zecora, sternly. “That will not make the misery end.”
“I know, I know...” I moaned. “I just wish she were here...”
At that moment, there was a knock at my door.
“Who is it?” I called.
“Derpy!”
Getting to my feet, I crossed over to the door and opened it. There indeed was my mail mare pal.
“Hi, Derpy.” I said, glumly.
“You ok?” she asked, looking concerned. “If you’re sick, I have a muffin in my bag for you.”
I couldn’t help it. I smiled.
“Thanks, Derpy, but I’m fine, really. What’s up?”
“Guess who got a letter!” said Derpy, in a happy singsong.
“Who, me?” I asked, pointing to myself.
“Yep!”
With her wing, she flipped open the little mailbox in front of my house, showing a single letter inside. Curious, I headed over and picked it up. To my astonishment, it was from the Pie family farm.
“A letter from the girls already? But it’s only been a day! How did it get here so fast?”
“Pegasi Express,” said Derpy, simply.
“Come again?”
“We’ve got pegasi placed at the borders of every city to intercept long-distance letters. Kind of like a relay race, actually. Since I’m Ponyville’s mail mare, I need to be notified when a letter is coming my way, and lo and behold, this one came my way, and just happened to be for you!”
“Huh. Well, let’s see what they’ve got to say. Why don’t you come in?”
I opened the door wider and bowed for her to enter.
“Ohh, that’s so gentlecoltly of you!” said Derpy, with a giggle, and she went inside with me. “Hi, Zecora!”
“And hello to you, my dear Derpy. How fair your children three?”
“Oh, they’re doing great! It feels like ages since I’ve seen you!”
As the two chatted, I opened the envelope and took out the letter inside. It read as follows:
“Dear Mr. Dave,
I would like to apologize for the coarse way I treated you at our first meeting. Pinkamena informed me of what a good friend you have been to her ever since your arrival, and I feel as if I may have treated you unfairly. I have been reading the papers, and they may have been a tad untruthful about you. In that light, I wish to rescind my harsh words at the farm, and hope you might accept my apology. You are welcome to return at any time, as Pinkamena assures me you are trustworthy.
Sincerely yours,
Igneous Rock Pie”
I was struck dumb with amazement. Mr. Pie was apologizing to me? It wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but it was by no means unwelcome. Looking down, I saw a postscript in Pinkie’s familiar loopy hoof-writing.
“P.S.
Pinkie here! Sorry about Daddy. Applejack and Grammy Pie got into a bake-off, and everypony won!”
Now that made me smile. It sounded like they were already having a blast up there. Now that I had Mr. Pie’s approval, I’d have to come up and see it for myself sometime.
“Sounds like they’re having a blast up there,” I said. “And it’s just what I needed: knowing Pinkie’s reunion is going great, away from ‘Goronide Bolezn’ and all that.”
“If it will make you feel better,” Zecora said, “you could always write your own letter.”
“…My own letter?”
And then it clicked.
“My own letter! That’s it! Zecora, you’re a genius!”
Zecora smiled, and I jumped to my feet.
“I gotta get some writing materials, right away!” I turned to Zecora and gripped her hooves in my hands. “Thanks, Zecora. If you hadn’t been with me when this started, I might have lost my head 10 times over.”
“You are very welcome,” said Zecora, gently, “and don’t you fret. She shall be back on her hooves yet.”
“Yeah. You’re right. I know she will. I’ll be right back, ladies.”
“See you in a bit!”
“Take care where you fare.”
I rushed to the door, but I paused for a moment and turned to take another look at Zecora. She smiled warmly at me, and I waved gratefully back, turning back and heading out.
***
I took it slow this time, because the stitch in my side was still aching. As I walked through Ponyville, I found myself crowded by many town ponies, muttering. They weren’t talking about me, however, but about Trixie. I tried not to get involved and headed for a stationary shop, buying my own parchment, feather quill, and ink bottle. As I was turning home, however, Lyra trotted up to me.
“Dave! What happened? What were you doing, carrying Trixie?”
“She’s sick, Lyra,” I answered. “She has some weird unicorn fever.”
Lyra gasped, her tangerine pupils shrinking.
“Not…not Goronide Bolezn?…” she asked, terrified.
“Yeah. You know about it?”
“Uh-huh. My…my uncle had it once. It left him bedridden for weeks. His horn was completely out of control. He accidentally turned my aunt into a flamingo when she tried to give him his fever medicine.”
(Weeks?…Will Trixie have to be there that long?…)
“How did you find her, anyway?” Lyra asked. “I thought she’d left Ponyville.”
“Zecora and I came upon her, by accident,” I said, quickly. I didn’t think it would do for anypony to know I’d been visiting her.
“Oh. Wow. Do you think she’ll be ok?”
“I hope so. Do you?”
“Well…” Lyra averted her eyes, guiltily. “I won’t lie, I haven’t heard many good things about her, but of course nopony would want her to die…”
“Nah, I didn’t think so,” I said. “You’re all too sweet for that.”
Lyra smiled and leaned against me gratefully.
“Oh! Speaking of sweet,” said Lyra, “Bonnie wanted me to deliver this to you.”
She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a flat, red box reading ‘Bon Bon’s Bonbons’, handing it to me.
“The Choco-Box Deluxe!” she said, proudly. “A personal favorite of mine.”
“Aww, Lyra,” I said, touched. “This was really sweet of Bon Bon, but I didn’t do anything to deserve this.”
“You’re too modest,” said Lyra, grinning. “Go on, it’s a gift from the two of us. She had a hunch humans like chocolate, and wanted to know for herself.”
“Ahh, an experiment, eh?”
“She says I need a break from being taste tester, but what does she know?”
I chuckled.
“Well, thanks,” I said. “Give my regards to Bon Bon as well.”
“I will! Bye!”
And Lyra trotted away, humming to herself, while I headed for home.
***
I returned to find Derpy and Zecora still chatting away happily, though they looked up as I came in and sat back down.
“Hey, Derpy? Do you think you could wait by until I’m done and pass it off to the next pegasus to the Pie family farm down south?”
“Sure thing!”
“Great, thanks. Help yourselves, by the way,” I added, pushing the box of candy between them.
“A sweet treat? How generous of you!” said Zecora, delighted. “If you are offering, do not mind if I do.”
“Ooh, chocolate!” said Derpy. “I really shouldn’t. Buuuuuuuuut, maybe just one.”
She giggled and, taking what looked like one with caramel filling, gulped it down, Zecora taking one with nougat, as I grabbed a piece of paper, a quill, and an ink bottle, and, after popping in a peanut butter-filled chocolate (absolutely delicious, by the way), I began writing out my response letter. Thankfully, Pinkie’s had given me what I had been missing: the Pie farm address. I’d never have remembered it if she hadn’t sent it to me.
“Dear girls,
Just received your letter. Sounds like you guys are having a great time up there. I made it home ok, so no need to worry about that.
Things aren’t quite so peachy here, I’m afraid.”
I paused. Pinkie and I were the only ones who knew Trixie had been hiding in the woods. How would the others react when I told them?…For now, I guess I should just say it was some unicorn I found sick.
“Zecora and I found a friend of mine, and had to rush her to the hospital. I was unable to see her after they took her away, but Zecora told me she has some kind of unicorn fever with a weird name, but said it had to do with loss of control over her magic. She is currently in intensive care, so all I can do is hope she gets better.
Also, I believe I found that newspaper article that made Pinkie’s dad so adamant about me. Not exactly flattering, and I shudder to think what’ll come next, because I personally met the writer of that article, Miss Dolly Tribune. She seemed nice, but if she has that kind of gift for gab…Well, we’ll get to that eventually.
Hope to see you all back safely soon, and have fun with the Pies.
Your friend,
Dave.”
I finished the letter and sealed it in an envelope, scrawling out the address onto it.
“There we go. I entrust it into your care, Miss Hooves.”
I handed the letter to her, and she saluted.
“I won’t let you down!”
She was heading for the door when a thought suddenly struck me, and I called after her.
“Hey, Derpy?”
She paused at the door.
“Yeah?”
“Do you happen to know who lives next door? You would, wouldn’t you, since you deliver Ponyville’s mail?”
Derpy’s face fell.
“Normally, yes, but, the thing is…whoever lives there doesn’t get any mail.”
I felt my jaw fall open.
“N-No mail? At all?”
“None. I’ve never gotten any letter or package addressed to that house. I’ve never met or even seen who lives there.” Her ears dropped. “It must be awful, having no one to write to you.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, sadly.
No mail at all? That poor pony must be miserable, or at least a shut-in, but then again, why would those terms be exclusive of each other? Trixie had hidden away in her caravan, depriving herself of all social contact, and look what happened to her...
I looked at Zecora. She looked grim about the idea as well.
“Well, thanks anyway, Derpy,” I said at last. “I didn’t mean to bring up such a touchy subject.”
“Oh, no, it’s not a big deal,” said Derpy. After a slight pause, she perked up again. “I’ll get your letter to Comet Tail on the north border lickety-split.”
“Great,” I said, gratefully. “You sure you don’t mind doing this?”
“I’m sure. I’ve done it loads of times. I know Ponyville like the back of my hoof!”
I smiled. Goofy as she looked, Derpy did seem to have a good head on her shoulders.
“Well, good luck,” I said. Then added, “Here, catch!”
I took another chocolate from the box and tossed it. Derpy stuck out her tongue and caught it.
“One for the road,” I said.
“Thankpth!” said Derpy, tongue still out. She pulled it back in and swallowed the chocolate. “Mmm! Coconut! Well, bye, Dave! Bye, Zecora”
With a merry wave, Derpy took off, and I watched her soar off until she was out of sight.
“I had better return to my forest home,” said Zecora. “There are herbs I must collect while I roam.”
“I gotcha. Well, thanks again, Zecora. I’m really glad I had your support today.”
Zecora smiled and put her hoof on the back of my hand.
“To care about a pony who cares only for herself, shows your heart is not locked away on the shelf. If you persist, just wait and see. Perhaps good friends you will once more be.”
I smiled back at her, and with that, Zecora took her leave, heading off toward the forest.
After she was gone, I fell to thinking again, not about Trixie, nor about Pinkie and the girls, but about my mystery neighbor. That pony next door never got any mail? Did they even know anypony in Ponyville, or were they completely alone? Pinkie floated into my thoughts. She knew everypony in Ponyville; everypony was her friend. Was this pony right next door the complete opposite: friendless and unknown? Did Pinkie even know about him or her?
Then, Derpy’s words floated into my mind.
“It must be awful, having no one to write to you...”
And then it hit me.
I was this pony’s neighbor. Was it not, then, my duty to extend the neighborly hand of friendship? Why not?
I took another piece of paper and began to write.
“Dear neighbor,
I hope you are doing well. I just thought I’d send you this letter and say hi. I’m new here, and am still getting used to things. Have you lived in Ponyville long? Maybe we could get together and just talk sometime. That’d be nice, don’t you think?
Have a wonderful day.
Sincerely,
Dave.”
There. That ought to do it. It was a start, at least. I stuffed it into another envelope, wrote “From Your New Neighbor” on it, and headed out the door with it.
Looking about, I saw that the area was completely empty, devoid of any pony presence or sound. Quietly, I crept over to the unknown pony’s house and went to the mailbox. It was dusty and faded, and looked like it had never been used. As carefully as I could, I opened the lid. It gave an unpleasant creak, and I froze, looking at the house.
Nothing stirred.
I slipped the letter inside and shut the lid. With that done, I hurried back into my house.
I shut the door, feeling an elated sort of satisfaction in my heart. I’d taken the first step toward making friends. Whether they found it welcome or not, I at least paid them a service nopony else had.
My stomach gave a loud rumble. In the wild madness that had started from finding Trixie sick in her caravan, I had neglected lunch, and only had one piece of chocolate in my stomach. Reflecting on what a hectic morning it had been, I decided to head to the marketplace and pick up some new groceries to spice up my meager stock.
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HAH first to comment on the new chapter, dang you work fast. As I said before, this story is EXCELLENT. Keep up the good work.
I'm seeing a distinct lack of Screwball, Blaze.
2417893
Don't worry, linguist, she will not be forgotten.
Correct me if I'm wrong but when ponies want to stop a unicorn (usually Twilight because the badguy is no match for her in a fair fight) they put one of those nifty rings around the horn to prevent the unicorn from casting magic... wouldn't there be some medical version of this item to use at the hospital? Mind you, it would be funny to see the staff trying not to get hit with random spells from a sick Trixie.
2418008
I've never heard of that happening. Is that a common fic element?
2418016
Yes. The mechanics are usually the metal absorbing magic and transferring it to embeded gems/runes that store it until it can be leaked out safely.
2418016
It's a common anti-unicorn device in the fiction I read anyway... (But then I read a lot, and I have way too many favorites)
HOLY SHIT, BIG ASS TEXT
FIRST!!!!!! The feels I have for Trixie, I hope she get better.
Who could that pony next door be?
2418016 pretty common, yeah. It's in atuff like the FO:E stories.
2418300 Obviously it is Trixie's little fan/friend from her story a few chapters back.
"Bolezn", huh? That's russian (maybe some other language too) for "illness", but I'm unfamiliar with the other word. Interesting...
2418525 OOOOOHHHHHHHH..............I knew that.
2417519
Spike:Very much so.
Twilight: Spike...
New chapter of Awesome! Thanks for a good read. I hope that Trixie's illness will open her up to Davie =D.
2418525
Obviously, you say? I'm curious to know how you drew that conclusion. What evidence is there? Don't think I'm being rude; I'm just fascinated with how sure you are.
2421174 The timing of her moving in relative to Trixie's timeline, the exhibited behavior patterns would fit with the trauma rebound from the incident with the heckler, and the biggest reason of all that it must be so is.... There could be no explanation more hilarious or ironic, and thus more epic, than her having followed Trixie all these years only to lose her trail in Ponyville and them living next door to each other so long completely oblivious because they both became recluses in large part because of the other. There is no reason for you to have left her fate after the attack so nebulous unless you were planning on her being relevant somewhere down the road, a Chekhov's Gun as it were. If she was the same personality type she was before she would have tracked down and confronted Trixie before this, for good or for ill, so she must have suffered a personality inversion from the trauma. Though it is possible that she only recently recovered from a coma, has amnesia with the personality inversion, and she moved to Ponyville out of pure coincidence since it is a small/quiet town.
When can we get some Gilda?
2433075
I wasn't really planning on Gilda, sorry to say. If I included Dave meeting every character ever, that'd be a little too much. Besides, Gilda's not really on my good list at the moment, until canon evidence of her redeeming herself comes to light.
2433180
Well, since this isn't cannon, make up a backstory!
Theres an idea.
I got a massive sense that you were trying to make Dolly Tribune to be like Rita Skeeta from Harry Potter. The similarities are just too numerous for it to not be. The Quick Quotes Quill, although under Dolly's complete magical control (I actually think that would make it easier for her to twist the words into whatever she sees fit), the non-vocal photographer, and the way she digs into irrelevant and meaningless pieces of their past, just to get to the juicy gossip, and make them sound bad. (Or good, depending on their mood)
Has someone been studying Russian
?
Though... does the chapter elaborate on "goronide"?
Yeah, can you imagine? Whoever there is chats their head off on a social network of sorts
.