My Little Gem: Friendship Shines Bright

by President_Celestia

Part 5

“Twilight!” Spike yelled at the sleeping purple unicorn, jerking her awake. She groggily rubbed her tired purple eyes, the bags clearing showing underneath them.

“What, Spike?” Twilight grumbled.

“There’s no time for being tired, Rarity’s in the hospital!”

“What!?” Twilight felt her exhaustion fade in an instant and she lept off her bed. “How? What happened to her!?”

“She apparently fainted during Lyra’s birthday party, but this time, she didn’t wake up immediately after. So, they got Nurse Redheart and Lyra to bring her to the hospital.” Spike explained, but when he was finished, he realized that he had been talking to open air. “Oh…”

Within a minute (after a large chain teleport), Twilight was standing inside Ponyville General Hospital, facing the receptionist.

“Hi, what can I-”

“Rarity. Room. Where!?” Twilight puffed out, her horn sparking. The receptionist flinched back from each heavy syllable but eventually recovered.

“She’s in Room 10. She’s asleep right now and she seems to have an unknown disease.” But the receptionist soon realized that she had been talking to open air. “Oh…”

“Rarity!” Twilight barged into the room, spotting Rarity lying on the hospital bed, her coat gleaming like a crystal under the light of the hospital room. Nurse Redheart and Doctor Horse were standing over the bed, monitoring her. When Twilight busted in, Nurse Redheart loudly shushed her.

“Quiet! Honestly…” Nurse Redheart harshly whispered.

“Sorry, but… is she okay?” Twilight walked over to the bed, standing next to Nurse Redheart.

“I’m afraid to say it, but we have no clue. This… disease, infection… whatever it is, it has completely infected Rarity, and her shimmering coat and, no doubt, her sudden fainting, is caused by this infection.” Nurse Redheart carefully explained.

“And if this is an infectious disease, we have no idea how it is spread. For now, we are sticking with direct contact.” Doctor Horse also explained.

“That’s why I wore those to prevent physical contact with Rarity.” Nurse Redheart pointed to a shallow trash bin, which housed a pair of rubber medical gloves, or something. “I had Lyra carry half of Rarity’s weight with her magic. If this disease can somehow spread through the air, then all three of us may very well be infected right now, and we may not know it.”

“But if it spreads through contact, then who knows who could be infected with… whatever this disease is!” Twilight exclaimed.

“That is exactly where our concern lies right now.” Doctor Horse nodded. “While we care for Rarity, we cannot help but worry if there are other ponies out there who have been unknowingly infected with this disease. Right now, it seems to be harmless, but I fear what it might do in the future.”

Twilight felt a curtain of despair fall over her as she looked over to Rarity, her crystal coat shimmering brightly.

“Oh, Rarity…” Twilight clenched her eyes shut and sighed. “Do you… have a name for this yet?”

“For right now, we’ll have a placeholder name, one that can easily identify this disease. Judging by the characteristics of it, we have decided to name it…” Doctor Horse turned to Nurse Redheart.

“The Luster, derived from its trait of turning a pony’s coat into a reflective material, almost like a mineral.” Nurse Redheart looked over to Twilight, her blue eyes serious. “I will hear no qualms from you. Right now, I need you to search for possible infected ponies.”

Twilight wanted to stay here desperately, but she knew that right now, it was required that she go. “Yes… of course.” And so, Twilight turned and ran out of the room, leaving Nurse Redheart and Doctor Horse with Rarity.

“I am worried about what the Luster can do.” He admitted.

“You are not the only one, Doctor.” Nurse Redheart muttered in agreement. “If this disease proves lethal, then we need to start working on a cure now rather than later.”

“When do you think she got infected? I estimate two days ago.” Doctor Horse examined Rarity momentarily.

“It is safe to say that this is no normal disease, Doctor. We need to think along more unrealistic margins. I estimate that she was infected 5 hours ago max.” Nurse Redheart closed her eyes and looked toward the door.

“Yes, you are right. Now, let us hope that Rarity is the only one.” Doctor Horse looked out the window, seeing that the sun was now setting.

“Yes, let us hope indeed.”

---

Rarity

Status: Infected Mid-stage 2
Infection: Has seemingly paused for now
Health: 71%
Stress: 0%
Energy: 9%
Hunger: 11%
Thirst: 22%

Inventory: NOTHING

Twilight Sparkle

Status: Healthy/ Despaired

Health: 95%
Stress: 89%
Energy: 24%
Hunger: 39%
Thirst: 52%

“Rarity…”
“I’ve got to find any other infected.”
“Please, let there be no others…”

Inventory: NOTHING

---

Lyra Heartstrings

Status: Healthy?/Confused

Health: 98%
Stress: 11%
Energy: 85%
Hunger: 14%
Thirst: 18%

“My horn feels funny…”
“I hope Rarity feels better.”
“I’ll read a book for now.”

Inventory: A diamond horn ring, a book

---

Fluttershy

Status: Healthy/Tired

Health: 99%
Stress: 1%
Energy: 31%
Hunger: 7%
Thirst: 2%

“I think I’ll go to sleep.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll visit Rarity. Maybe she can repair my dress…”
“When’s Discord coming back?”

Inventory: Warm blanket, cup of warm milk, a pillow

---

Rainbow Dash

Status: Healthy/Waking up

Health: 100%
Stress: 6%
Energy 100%
Hunger 67%
Thirst: 79%

“Aw, dang it, I slept for too long.”
“Thankfully, AJ’s nowhere in sight.”
“Maybe I’ll just… pretend nothing happened, heh.”

Inventory: Goggles. Compass

---

Princess Celestia

Status: Healthy/Lowering the sun

Health: 100%
Stress: 15%
Energy: 67%
Hunger: 2%
Thirst: 0%

“Let the world rest once more…”
“Maybe I can ask Luna to check on Twilight for me.”
“It’s time to sleep.”

Inventory: NOTHING

---

Princess Luna

Status: Healthy/ Raising the moon

Health: 100%
Stress: 1%
Energy: 99%
Hunger: 0%
Thirst: 0%

“Let the world be bathed by the comforting rays of the moon, rest well, little ponies.”
“What’s that? Visit Twilight Sparkle? Whatever for?”
“Alright, if you insist, sister.”

Inventory: Notebook

Comments

[lilac123]

i'm guessing pinkie is infected since she caught rarity when she fainted