Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Fl0w

"There. This should help." Rose held up the still slightly steaming mug in front of Sweetie Belle, patiently waiting for the unicorn to take hold of it.

Forcing herself to take the leg off her face, open her eyes, look down, and not vomit, Sweetie took hold of the mug with a shaking hoof and slowly brought it to her lips. "Are you sure it will?" she asked between sips.

"I'm mostly sure," Rose replied. "There is a chance that the new step altered the way nature works once again and I just served you a lethal dose of poison. Or that you'll grow a second horn on the back of your head."

"Huh." Sweetie finished her drink.

Rose quirked an eyebrow. "I was honestly expecting a spit take."

"Death is preferable to this headache at this point." Sweetie set the mug down, then closed her eyes and looked upwards again, grabbing a napkin in her hoof to dry some drops of blood running down her nose. "Stupid powers and stupid inability to control them properly yet," she muttered.

"That bad, eh?" Rose took the mug in her mouth and brought it to the nearby sink. "It should only take a few minutes before the effects kick in. You might get a little sleepy from it, so I suggest you find a couch or somewhere else where passing out wouldn't be problematic."

"If I can walk to one without vomiting out my soul I'll do that," Sweetie replied, once more covering her closed eyes with a hoof. "It looks like Luna is helping around too. It would be a lot easier to tell what exactly she's doing if her projection wasn't constantly moving through this anteater's!"

"Don't stress yourself too much, it won't make you feel any better." Rose headed for the door. "I'm going out, by the way."

"Easy to say that when you're not the one whose senses are getting assaulted." Sweetie swallowed. "Research?"

Rose stopped halfway through the open door. "Yep. Like I said, there's a chance the step might have had new repercussions on the biosphere. I want to document it as soon as possible, this is important."

"Make sure you close your saddlebags properly, I wouldn't want whatever that thing currently covered by Rainbow's head is to fall out," Sweetie said, before emitting a prolonged sound of pain.

Rose checked herself over, and properly pushed the precariously hanging equipment back inside the bag. "Thanks!" she said, leaving the room.

Sweetie's answer were more wordless acknowledgements of her suffering.

Once she was outside the building, Rose immediately headed for the Everfree, a springy gait to her step.

Lyra spotted her and joined her along the road, matching her pace but not her cadence. "Going somewhere?" she asked.

"The forest. Research stuff," Rose explained. "How are you? Nothing too bad after the step, I hope."

"Nothing to worry about." Lyra adjusted her walking speed slightly to better match Rose's peculiar gait. "Any news from Princess Twilight yet?"

"She's coming, last I heard, but you should better ask Starlight for more info."

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Oh goodness, I hadn't thought of the wider biochemical ramifications. This could still be bad in a much subtler way.

Also, poor Sweetie Belle. She never asked for this.