To Err is Equine

by RLYoshi

22: Ice-sick-le

[Perspective: Risk]

A lot of ponies consider the day after Hearth's Warming to be the most depressing day of the year. For me, it's just another day that I get to sleep in.

The previous day had been fun; we all went off and did our own thing, though we mostly stayed in Smooth Grove. I say "mostly" because Arrell spent most of his time off in the forest, which he eventually named Snowflake Woods for seemingly no reason other than to call it something other than "the forest". Somehow, it stuck, and now even the mayor calls it that.

The rest of us walked around town, talking with the locals. Asylum was still rather shy around them, and False had a habit of getting too brash, but nothing too bad happened. It was a peaceful day, and for once, I was thinking we'd be able to have a little while where nothing bad happened.

Of course, Celestia had to prove me wrong.

A noise had roused me the morning after Hearth's Warming, and when I looked at the clock on the wall of the room I shared with Nimble, I saw that it was only about six in the morning. Mumbling something even I couldn't comprehend, I went to drift back to sleep...when I heard the noise again. The sound of somepony throwing up.

My eyes shot open and I sat up quickly, looking over at Nimble. The colt was up as well, but the noise wasn't coming from him.

"Stay here," I told him, heading for the door. The girls' room was across the hall, and I wasted no time walking over to knock on the door. Asylum answered, a white and purple robe around her body.

"It's not us," she answered before I even asked. False showed up then in a blue robe, looking quite annoyed. We all looked at the stairs at the same time, just as another puking sound reached our ears.

I quickly trotted up the stairs towards Arrell's room, the others following me. His bedroom door was open a crack, but when I peered inside, he wasn't there. Another barfing noise came from the bathroom a few feet away, and I slowly walked up to it.

"Arrell?" I softly called through the door. A groan came as the only reply. "Are you okay?" This time, no reply came at all, and I slowly opened the door.

Inside, I saw Arrell with his head almost completely inside the toilet, his front hooves grasping the sides for dear life. The rest of his body was flopped down on the floor, so still that if not for his panting breaths I would've thought he was dead. He heaved once more, his entire body tensing up as he did so before falling limp again.

"Oh Celestia..." I muttered as I walked up to the Windigo and knelt down to his level. "Arrell, are you okay?"

"He's obviously not," False snapped from the doorway. I glared back at her, silently telling her to put a lid on it. She listened.

"Arrell, how are you feeling?" I asked, turning back to my ill friend. He turned his head to look at me, opening his mouth to speak, only to choke and turn back into the toilet, continuing to throw up.

In these few seconds, Asylum had walked over to join us, kneeling down on Arrell's other side and rubbing his back. Since she knew more about illnesses and cures than the rest of us combined, I got up and stepped back to let her take over.

For a few minutes, nothing happened aside from Arrell occasionally furthering to vacate his stomach. Eventually, he slowed to a stop, and his breathing became moderately normal. Asylum put one of her front hooves to Arrell's forehead.

"He's burning up," she told us. She helped him to his hooves, using one of her wings to flush the toilet as they stood. "False, help me get him to his room."

---

[Perspective: Asylum]

As soon as we laid Arrell on his bed, he was asleep once more. I pulled the covers up over him before dragging over a chair and sitting in it, positioned right next to his bed.

"What's wrong with him?" Risk asked, worried. He and False were on the other side of the bed, wearing similarly concerned expressions. Nimble finally came upstairs and sat next to me on the floor.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "It could just be a fever, but I don't know much about Windigoes. It could be some disease nopony has ever even heard of before."

"Gee, I feel safe," False sarcastically grumbled.

"Risk, go to the hospital and see if one of their doctors can help us. Nimble, get the mayor; if this gets bad, we may need to quarantine this house."

The two of them nodded and left, heading off to complete their assigned tasks. I turned to False, who looked back at me.

"What should I do?" she asked.

"Knowing you, I would've thought you'd avoid helping him at any cost."

"Look, he's annoying, but I still have to watch him. Half of my job is making sure he doesn't cause trouble, but the other half is making sure he stays safe. If I let him die from sickness, Celestia would send me to the moon. So, what do I do?"

I gave a small smile, but covered it up before she saw it. "For now, nothing. We just wait for Risk to get back here with the doctor."

"Can't you do anything to help him now? Like, give him water or something?"

"False, like I said, I don't know anything about Windigoes. For all we know, water could make it worse."

"It could also make it better."

"Well, I'm not going to experiment on him!" I was frustrated, and it was showing. I rarely get angry, but right now I was fighting just to stay awake. I didn't need to deal with False.

"Sheesh, sorry. Just trying to help."

I sighed. "I know, and thank you. But right now, there's nothing safe we can do."

Her ears flicked. "What did you say?"

"...I said, there's nothing we can do."

"No, you said there's nothing safe we can do." False stomped her hoof quietly on the floor. "When has Arrell ever done anything safe?"

"Um...I haven't known him long..."

"Here's your answer: never. And he's still alive." She looked at the bedridden Windigo out of the corner of her eye. "...for now, at least."

I glared at her. "False, I don't care what you say, I'm not trying anything until I know if it'll work."

"He's a Windigo, Asylum! He's exactly like a regular pony! He's just bigger...and colder. And he has those creepy white eyes. But those don't matter! He's not going to have an entirely different system of organs!"

I mulled this over. She was right; we could at least try to dull the fever until the doctor got here. "Alright. Get some water."

She left the room and came back a minute later with a cup full of water. I took it and lightly shook Arrell awake, noticing how his body was even colder than normal. His eyes opened slightly, and I put the cup of water to his lips.

The water instantly froze, right in the cup.

All of us, even Arrell, seemed confused by this. I pulled the cup away, and the sick stallion fell asleep again within seconds. False and I stared at the cup of ice, then at each other.

"Does that usually happen when he drinks?" I asked.

"Not that I've seen."

"I don't think this is just a fever..."

---

Risk arrived with the doctor just a few minutes later. Nimble hadn't returned yet, but that was to be expected; the mayor's house was farther away than the hospital.

The doctor, a tan unicorn pony with a black mane and tail, took a look at Arrell. We explained to him and Risk about our failed attempt to give him water, and this made the doctor's eyebrows jump.

"What's wrong?" False asked, noticing this.

"Well, normally I'm not good with non-pony creatures, but..." the doctor responded thoughtfully, putting a hoof on Arrell's forehead. "I think he may be going through the early stages of evolution."

"Evolution?" we all chorused at the same time.

"Yes, evolution. As anypony can see, your friend here doesn't much look like those Windigoes from the stories." He pulled a book out and opened it, searching for a page before presenting it to us. "This is what they normally look like."

The Windigo we saw didn't look too different from Arrell, really. It had a longer snout and stranger hooves, but aside from that, they looked almost the same.

"That doesn't seem to be too big a change," I commented. "Why is it making him sick?"

"Oh, that isn't what he's becoming."

My blood ran cold.

"See this?" The doctor flipped a page and showed us another picture. "This is a Lord Windigo."

The Windigo in the picture...it was frightening. It had the face and hooves of the one on the previous page, but that wasn't all. Its mane looked like a rainbow of different shades of blue, and almost appeared to be on fire. Its front hooves had claws on them, and it looked to be standing upright, except it had no hind legs – it must have been flying. In the picture it was shown in, there was destruction everywhere; a town below was shown with ponies running away, screaming in fear.

"He..." I swallowed. "He's...going to become...that?"

The doctor nodded. "Lord Windigoes are one of three types, and it's very rare for a Windigo to evolve into one. However, your friend here is exhibiting all the symptoms; if he was becoming a Warrior Windigo or a Scout Windigo, he wouldn't be sick at all."

"Warrior? Scout?" False was confused.

"Warrior Windigoes are bred for battle; once they grow up, they protect the Lord Windigo with their life. Scout Windigoes are the most common types, and the ones with the least power. All they do is hunt for food for the clan. They're typically the ones you hear about in legends."

False shook her head. "I'm not letting him become a monster. I'm just not."

"Oh, don't worry about that! His personality won't change with his evolution; only his appearance and powers. Besides, this is only his first stage of evolution. He won't be fully evolved for a year or so. All this stage is doing is lowering his body temperature."

I cast a look back at him, lying in bed, still asleep. "But...he was throwing up earlier...is that from the evolution too?"

The doctor thought for a moment. "I don't think so. He must have just gotten a fever at the same time his evolution started, and it magnified his symptoms." He put the book away and began leaving. "Just be sure to keep him in bed for a couple of days, and try to keep too many ponies from being near him. If his Windigo instincts kick in and he starts feeding on hatred, the less ponies around to fuel him the better. For now, just treat it like a typical fever, and let me know if anything changes."

With that, the doctor left, leaving us behind with a sick soon-to-be Lord Windigo. I looked back at the bedridden stallion, who had slept through the entire thing. Sighing, I trotted over to my chair, sat down, and rubbed his forehead with my hoof.

"An event that will change the way ponies see you, both literally and metaphorically...and you're fast asleep." I let out a small giggle. "You'd probably find that funny if you were awake."

Arrell moved slightly and mumbled something in his sleep. His breathing slowed to a more moderate level, and a smile found its way onto his face.

Author's Note:

Time for a new arc! Arrell's sick and evolving, the crew is still stuck in Smooth Grove, and there's still that strange thing Asylum saw last chapter...what happens next? Find out next chapter!

Comments

[Doctor D]

The plot thickens. I will wait with great vigor.

Edit: I am sorry but can this be? I'm FIRST!

[AggroViking]

1883068 indeed you are

[AppleTank]

Congratulations! Your Arrell has leveled up from Windigo to Lord Windigo!

[RealityDowngrade]

I can't believe no one has posted this.

[D-Bence35]

If Arrel's becoming colder, then his powers are also becoming stronger. Which means: Winter is Coming...

[Serefin]

What's this? Arrell is evolving! ...Congratulations! Your Arrell has evolved into Lord Windigo!

Arrell wishes to learn the move Focus Punch. Will you learn Focus Punch?

^I feel this is extremely appropriate.

[AleneShazam]

Winter is coming!

[Blaze Song]

3113192

*Hums Game of Thrones*