1. A Shocking Discovery
Violent coughs were heard from a tiny shack in the center of town. A pale, pink pegasus named Misty Rose was busy in the kitchen making soup. She had a light blue mane, with white and aqua highlights, which fell just below her shoulders. Her cutie mark was a puffy white cloud with rain drops underneath and her irises were a light shade of violet.
She grit her teeth as the coughs sounded again and her hooves trembled as she tried to add a cup of daisy petals to the mixture.
Suddenly, a knock on the door alerted her attention. She opened it up to a tan unicorn stallion with spectacles on the tip of his muzzle and a stethoscope draped around his neck.
“Doctor,” Misty sighed in relief, “thank you so much for coming at such short notice. Please, come in.”
“Thank you,” the stallion replied. "Miss Rose, I presume. Where is the patient?”
“She's resting in her bedroom, this way.” The young Pegasus led the doctor up the stairs to a small room at the end of the hall.
As they started walking, the doctor levitated a notepad and pen out of his saddle-bag. “Tell me, when did you start noticing something wrong with your daughter?”
“About two days ago,” Misty answered. “Whisper said she wasn't feeling well so I let her go to bed early. The next morning, her temperature spiked to 104 degrees and I noticed a strange mark on the bottom of her right hoof.”
“Strange mark?”
“Yes, it was red and in the shape of a circle.”
“Mmmm… I see.” The doctor jotted some notes in the notepad.
The two ponies finally arrived at the bedroom where three fillies were gathered in the center of the room.
The eldest, Skye Heart or Skye, as she preferred to be called, was the only one with a cutie mark: a winged heart. She had lilac fur and a short blue mane, which was mostly covered by the navy blue and pink striped cap she wore. The little, yellow filly standing next to her was her youngest sister Sunbeam. She was only four years old and had two orange pigtails, fastened with ribbons, on either side of her head. When she was bored, she liked to shake them in the air and let them gently hit her cheeks.
They were both staring at a sleeping light blue filly, only a couple years younger than Skye. Her snowy white mane spread about the pillow, with random strands twisting and tangling at the ends because she had been lying in bed all day.
The two fillies turned their heads when they heard their mother standing in the doorway with the doctor.
“Children, this is Doctor Trotter,” Misty said. “He’s here to help Whispy.”
The stallion walked over to the bed and knelt down beside the blue filly. “Hello, Whisper Wishes,” he said softly. “I hear you're not feeling well. Can you tell me what the matter is?”
The sick filly partially opened her eyes. “My head hurts and I have a stomach ache,” she replied weakly.
The doctor smiled gently. “Well, I’m just going to do a quick check up. Alright? Open your mouth and say ahh.”
The others waited patiently as the doctor performed all sorts of tests. Carefully and diligently, he examined everything from the tip of her muzzle to the bottom of her hooves. When he reached the right hoof, he saw it. It was just as Misty had described. There in the center, about the size of a bit, was a large, red dot, practically covering the entire hoof. Without saying a word, he packed up his equipment and walked over to Misty.
“Miss Rose, may I have a moment?” he asked her privately.
“Of course,” she replied. “Skye, look after your sisters, please.”
The elder filly nodded as Misty Rose followed the doctor out of the bedroom, carefully closing the door behind them so the little ones wouldn’t hear the conversation.
“How is she Doctor?” she inquired.
“Not well, I’m afraid. She seems to have a strong case of Hoofitis.”
“Hoofitis?”
“An extremely rare disease caused by the Lilium Toxicodendrus, commonly known as the Black Lily. It contains magical pores that produce deadly poisons. That mark on her hoof is a common symptom of the disease.”
Misty’s eyes widened. “B...But how?”
“The disease is only transmitted when some pony comes in contact with the plant. Was she ever in the Everfree Forest?”
“I'm certain she wasn't. I never allow any of my girls to go in and the only time I wasn’t there to watch them was when she and—” Misty’s eyes grew wide. “Skye,” she muttered. “Last week the fillies arrived late home from school. Skye told me they stopped by Sugar Cube Corner on the way but it’s possible that they went into the forest without my permission.”
“Well, than that explains it.” The doctor exclaimed. “The Black Lily grows exclusively within the Everfree Forest. Whisper Wishes must have inadvertently brushed against it.”
“How do I cure it?” Misty asked anxiously.
“Hoofitis is formed by dark magic.” Dr. Trotter sighed. “Our medicines are not strong enough to cure it.”
“So there’s nothing we can do?” Misty’s eyes started welling up with tears. She constantly strived to protect her daughters, but now, one was going to die right under her nose and she was powerless to stop it.
“Mmm,” The doctor thought for a moment. “There is one thing.”
The pegasus looked up at this sign of hope.
“A griffon’s goblet contains strong magical healing properties. If Whisper drinks from it, she should be rid of all disease.”
“Oh yes, I believe I've read about that somewhere."
She quickly went into a nearby room and fetched a crimson book from the shelf. Shuffling through the pages, she finally landed on one with the illustration of a creature, who had the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.
"Aha, here it is!" Running her hoof across the page, she started reading. "The legendary Griffon Goblet is a powerful artifact guarded by the king of the griffons. It once prevented an entire race from falling into extinction.” Misty clapped her hooves together playfully. “This is wonderful! With that goblet, I'll be able to heal Whispy.”
Doctor Trotter shook his head. “I’m afraid it won't be that easy. In the last ten years, the griffons have been very cautious. They won’t let anypony not of their kind into their kingdom.”
Misty’s ears drooped at this statement but soon perked up when she heard laughter coming from the bedroom. She peeked inside to see Skye reading aloud a story from Whisper's favorite book, Silver Mane and the Three Dragons.
"Meanwhile, the three dragons returned home," the oldest filly read.—"'Someone's been eating my gemstones,'"— trying to copy a low mannish voice. “Father Dragon said. —'Someone’s been eating my gemstones too,'"—while unsuccessfully trying to fake a British accent. “Mother Dragon said. And the little baby dragon squeaked,—‘Someone’s been eating my gemstones and they ate them all up.’”
The little fillies laughed at the silly voice their sister chose for that dragon.
Misty gently smiled as she looked at Skye and Sunbeam. They already lost their father when he went off to fight in the Celestial War. Imagine how disheartened they would be if they lost Whisper Wishes too. She couldn't let them go through that, especially after she swore to the princesses she would never let anything happen to them. With her head held high, she returned her attention back to the doctor.
“I will do whatever it takes to save my daughter,” she said boldly.
The doctor bowed his head in agreement not willing to argue with the determined young mare.
“But,”—Misty pawed at the ground—“I don't know where the Griffon Kingdom is.”
“There is a magical map hidden deep within the royal archives at Canterlot Castle. It can show you the direction to any place in and beyond Equestria.”
“Then that’s where I'm going.”
“Take care, Miss Rose,” he said before departing. “Good luck.”
She smiled as hope gleamed in her eyes. “I will.”