Lice Games

by Doom Trot

Rating: everyone
Tags: Fluttershy, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 4420

Fluttershy refuses to remove the lice in her mane. Even parasites need love, right?

An outbreak of lice breaks out in Ponyville's elementary school, only to be quickly shampooed out of existence. But who other than Fluttershy should find herself hosting them after the initial panic dies down? Convinced that protecting these lice wouldn't harm anypony else—as had been the case with Applejack's bat problem—if she were careful—and would definitely not be a repeat of the Parasprite incident—Fluttershy decides to keep them in her mane.

Published 2016-02-22 23:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-02-22 23:30:02 UTC

Ew!

“Alright, this might sound crazy, but I actually think vanilla is the best flavor,” said Snails, scratching behind his ear.

“Really?” asked Snips with something of scholarly intrigue. “But vanilla is so plain. How can it be the best?”

“Well, that’s what makes it the best. You can add sprinkles, or jelly beans, or—” Snails paused to tussle his mane “—or pretty much any topping you want to vanilla ice cream.”

“True. However, could you not also add said toppings to chocolate or strawberry ice cream?”

“You could, but the flavors of each of those ice creams would overpower—” Snails stopped speaking to rub his scalp against a light pole “—the toppings. Vanilla doesn’t do that.”

“Fair point, but… Dude, could you stop for like two seconds?”

Snails hadn’t really been paying attention, as he was concentrating on furiously scratching his mane.

“So, are you and your itchy friend gonna buy something, or what?” asked the mare running the ice cream cart, staring at Snails with mild concern.

“Of course! I’ll have a chocolate ice cream cone, and my friend will have a vanilla cone with sprinkles, jelly beans, and, well, just all of the toppings.”

“‘Kay,” said the ice cream mare boredly. “That’ll be four bits.”

“Certainly! Snails, pay the mare.” Snips bumped Snails with his hip.

Snails ceased scratching, looking confused. “Pay? Me? I thought you had the money?”

“I… I thought you had it.”

The ice cream mare sagged. “Move along kids. I gotta lotta customers.”

Snips glanced behind. There were no such lotta customers to be found.

“No you don’t,” protested Snips.

“Well… Move along anyway,” she said. “The skinny one’s making me nervous.”

Snips assumed she was referring to Snails, who had resumed tearing at his mane.

“We could make a trade,” suggested Snips.

“You haven’t got anything I want,” dismissed the mare, slumping on the ice cream cart.

“Oh. Well, I guess we’d better just leave, then. Come on, Snails.”

Snips began trudging away in a defeated fashion.

“Huh?” asked Snails. “We’re going? Okay. Bye, ice cream lady.”

“Later, kid.”

Snails caught up with Snips, walking distractedly as he continued scratching.

“Well, that was a bust,” muttered Snips. “I got my hopes up for nothin’.”

“Yeah, bummer,” said Snails.

“Say, maybe we could get a loan from Diamond Tiara? She’s good now, ain’t she?”

“Uh… I guess?”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea! We’ll just go up to her and—”

“Angel Bunny! You get back here right now!” thundered a voice from somewhere unseen, cutting Snips off.

A fraction of a second later, a white bunny bolted from around the corner, a plump carrot in his teeth. Snips sidestepped Angel, while Snails hardly noticed, as he was tall enough for the bunny to dart right underneath him. Another fraction of a second later, a blur of pink and yellow appeared from around the same corner.

Thwack!

Fortunately, Fluttershy had been angled just so that she missed Snails’ horn, resulting in a strictly noggin-to-noggin collision. Still, it was enough to leave both parties dazed and in pain.

“Ow, ow, ow,” mumbled Fluttershy, stumbling backwards from the crash.

Snails did not fare so well.

“Two scoops, pleeease,” he said, eyes out of focus.

“Oh dear!” cried Fluttershy. “Are you okay?”

Snails blinked rapidly, regaining focus in his eyes. He attended the bump on his head with a gentle hoof.

“Where’s the fire?”

“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going, and I shouldn’t have been going so fast anyway, and—”

“Excuse me, ma’am?” interrupted the ice cream mare, holding Angel aloft by the ears. “Is this your rabbit?”

Angel thrashed and struggled, carrot still held firmly in mouth.

“Yes, yes he is,” Fluttershy said with a mix of grief and relief.

As she approached, Angel quit thrashing. He stared defiantly. Fluttershy held out her hoof.

“Drop it,” she demanded.

Angel crossed his stubby bunny arms, then spit the carrot into her hoof.

“H-hey,” wheezed a rotund pony who came barrelling around the corner, though not with enough speed to crash into anypony. Nonetheless, Snips pulled Snails out of the pony’s path.

“I’m terribly sorry about all this,” said Fluttershy sincerely. “Here’s your stolen carrot back.”

Still struggling to catch his breath, the carrot vendor accepted the carrot from Fluttershy. “Thanks. Please… keep your bunny under control.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Fluttershy with a grim smile. “We’re going straight home.”

She snatched Angel out of the ice cream mare’s hoof, flying off, mumbling, “You’ve been a very bad bunny. Very bad.”

The carrot vendor panted, then coughed lightly. “Darned thievin’ rabbits.” He glanced at the ice cream mare. “Much obliged, ma’am.”

“Whatever,” she said, looking ready to fall asleep on her cart.

The carrot vendor left, returning to his stall. Snips and Snails, confused by the string of events, left the ice cream cart, woefully lacking in ice cream.

The next day.

As the dawn broke, a gentle ray of sunlight spilled into Fluttershy’s bedroom. Stirred from sleep, Fluttershy awoke with an adorable yawn and stretch. She grinned, feeling the warmth of the sunlight on her cheek. She rubbed her eyes, emerging from under her sheets.

“Good morning world, and all who—”

She flinched. Her cheery morning was suddenly interrupted by a tingling under her mane. Her initial instinct was to reach up and dig at the irritation, but she stopped herself before she could lay a hoof on her head. Instead, she hurried into the bathroom. Stepping in front of the mirror, she carefully parted her mane. She gasped at what she found underneath her pink hair. Tiny white bugs skittered and scattered when exposed, retreating to the recesses of Fluttershy’s mane.

“Oh dear,” she muttered. “When did you little fellas get in there?”

As if in answer, Fluttershy felt a renewed wave of itchiness. She grimaced, but then forced a smile.

“Hungry, huh? Well, I wasn’t really using that dead skin for anything, anyway. So you go ahead and have it.”

Her muscles tensed as she willed herself not to scratch.

They could get hurt, she thought. Or worse. If there’s a lice breakout in town, no doubt everypony is washing them out. They could be totally wiped out!
Fluttershy frowned into the mirror. “I won’t let that happen.”

Angel was still asleep in his bunny basket when Fluttershy stepped out of her room. He’d been sent to bed without dinner or snacks (“Especially not carrots!” Fluttershy had said). Fluttershy woke him with a nudge. He slowly opened his eyes, glaring up at her.

“Now don’t give me that look,” she chided. “What was I supposed to do? If you hadn’t stolen that carrot, then you could have had eaten as much as you wanted.”

Angel rolled his eyes, sitting up.

“Now, I hope you’ve learned your lesson,” said Fluttershy.

She said nothing, looking expectantly at Angel. He merely blinked.

“Well? Have you learned your lesson?”

Angel nodded curtly.

“Good!”

Fluttershy revealed the carrot she’d been holding, offering it to Angel, who eagerly began chomping away.

“Well, I still have errands to run that I didn’t get to finish up yesterday. So, you stay here while I g-g-go—”

Fluttershy bit her lip, twitching mildly. Angel froze, baffled by this.

Fluttershy breathed a sigh, saying, “As I was saying, you stay here while I go finish those errands.”

She gave him a pat, then flew out the door. Angel watched her go with a perplexed frown. After she left, he shrugged, then continued eating his carrot.

“Lice outbreak?” asked Apple Bloom, standing at a street corner with three of her friends. “Ah had no idea.”

“It might not be an ‘outbreak,’” clarified Silver Spoon, “but I think a few ponies from class still got head lice.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure Snails and Featherweight got them,” said Diamond Tiara. “Oh, and Sweetie Belle, too.”

Scootaloo chuckled. “I bet Rarity’s gonna have a field day.”

“What do ya even do?” asked Apple Bloom, icked-out by the entire discussion. “Can you just wash ‘em out?”

“There’s some kind of special shampoo,” said Silver Spoon. “But it’s a moot point, because none of us have lice anyway… None of us have lice, right?”

Scootaloo ran a hoof through her mane, then checked her hoof.

“Nope. I’m clean.”

“Good.” Silver Spoon shuddered. “Lice are gross.”

The others nodded and said, “Uh-huh.”

Fluttershy stood petrified. She really hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but a single mention of lice was enough to keep her ears glued to the conversation. Just as she feared, Ponyville’s lice presence was already well-known and not well-liked. Trying to look unabashed, she kept walking.

I suppose parents won’t just let their kids host head lice, she thought sadly. Nothing I can do about that. But, I can let this population stay in my mane for as long as possible. I’ll just have to always carry an umbrella. And never wash my hair. Plus, bathing might be tricky.

Fluttershy groaned as the implications of providing a haven for head lice became more harrowing the more she thought about it.

“Howdy, Fluttershy!” suddenly greeted Applejack, who had just arrived moments ago.

Fluttershy jolted, but was quickly composed and returning the greeting. “Good morning, Applejack. How are you?”

“Ah’m good. You?”

“I’m f-f—” She danced agitatedly, stuttering momentarily. “—Fine! I’m just fine.”

Applejack chuckled, though she sounded more worried than amused. “Ya feelin’ alright?”

“Yes. Like I said, I’m fine. I just… remembered that I needed to buy an umbrella.”

“Oh. Well, Ah won’t hold ya up, then.”

Fluttershy hurried off without a goodbye. Applejack watched her leave, looking unconvinced.

“What’s gotten into her?” she whispered.

Fluttershy stepped out of the umbrella shop (though it sold things besides umbrellas, too) looking much less stressed with a folded black umbrella in her mouth. Within seconds, however, a massive shadow covered the street corner, rekindling her stress. She glanced up to see a giant fluffy cloud being pushed across the sky by a trio of pegasi. With a yip, Fluttershy opened the umbrella and covered herself, even though the cloud wasn’t precipitating. Recognizing the yip, one of the pegasi looked down.

With a laugh, Rainbow Dash flew away from the cloud and down to Fluttershy, saying, “Calm down. Storm’s not ‘til three.”

“Oh,” sighed Fluttershy, lowering the umbrella. “That’s a relief.”

“So, what’s new?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Um, nothing,” answered Fluttershy quickly. “What’s new with you?”

“Just boring weather stuff. We’ve been moving clouds for about an hour. It’s seriously cutting into my practice time.”

“I see,” said Fluttershy, who suddenly remembered that she was a pegasus, and felt compelled to ask, “Do you need any help?”

“Nah, we’ve got it covered.”

“Oh, okay,” said Fluttershy, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. “Have a nice day.”

“Yeah, you t—” Rainbow Dash froze, caught off guard by Fluttershy’s mane.

Not noticing, Fluttershy picked up where she left off with her errands, leaving Rainbow Dash behind.

“Did I just see what I think I saw?” she asked, to no one in particular.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” called one of the pegasi from above.

“Oh! Coming!”

“I’m sure if there was something wrong,” said Pinkie, busy frosting a cake, “then she would tell us.”

“Ya see, Ah don’t think she would,” said Applejack. “Fluttershy ain’t big on burdenin’ her friends with her problems, even if she ain’t a burden.”

“That is true,” conceded Pinkie, pausing to evaluate what progress she’d made on the frosting. “But had you considered that intervening when she really doesn’t have a problem would just be stressful for her?”

Applejack frowned, evidently unprepared for Pinkie’s insightful rhetoric.

“Ya got me there. Still, she was actin’ real nervous, saying she needed to go buy an umbrella.”

“What’s so weird about that? I’m pretty sure there’s a storm scheduled for later.”

“Guys!” shouted Rainbow Dash, bursting through the door.

“We can ask Rainbow Dash,” said Pinkie. “Rainbow Dash, is it gonna rain today?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” answered Rainbow Dash, annoyed. “That’s not important, though. We’ve got to help Fluttershy!”

Applejack smirked at Pinkie Pie.

“Help her with what?” asked Pinkie.

“She’s got lice in her mane!”

Pinkie recoiled at the mention of lice.

“Ew, lice! I don’t like ‘em!”

“Seriously?” asked Applejack, a tinge disappointed. “She ain’t even been near them kids. How’d she end up with lice?”

“I don’t know,” said Rainbow Dash. “What I do know is that she’d never willingly wash them out, so it’s up to us.”

“On it!” declared Pinkie. “Mrs. Cake, I’m going on break! It’s an emergency!”

She tossed the frosting tube onto the counter and bolted out the door. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood stunned, apparently oblivious to Pinkie’s plan. They still followed after her anyway, though.

Pinkie Pie threw open the door of the local shampoo emporium (which sold things besides shampoo, too) to find a pony clad in a hazmat suit browsing the shelves. The hazmat pony seemed to be blocking the way of the most potent medicated shampoos.

“Excuse me,” said Pinkie politely, though she was practically shoving the hazmat pony out of the way.

“Oh, pardon me,” said the hazmat pony. Her voice, though muffled by the helmet and breathing apparatus, was unmistakably Rarity’s.

“Rarity?” asked Pinkie, freezing mid-reach for a thick bottle. “What’s with the suit?”

“Oh, it’s dreadful,” lamented Rarity, her histrionics still rich even concealed inside the yellow suit. “Sweetie Belle, the poor dear, has fallen prey to nasty head lice.”

“Ugh, yuck!” gagged Pinkie.

“‘Yuck’ indeed. I found that I didn’t have the proper ammunition to deal with the menace, so here I am.”

“What a coincidence!” jubilated Pinkie, removing the bottle from its shelf. “I just found out that Fluttershy also has lice, and I’m here for the same reason!”

Rarity gasped. “Oh my. Sweetie can’t wait to rid herself of these pests, but Fluttershy—”

“Would never lay a hoof on them. That’s why I’ve got a plan.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack arrived before Pinkie could speak. She beckoned them over.

“Okay,” she whispered. “So here’s what we’re gonna do.”

“Are ya sure it ain’t too much trouble?” asked Applejack, walking alongside Fluttershy.

“Oh, not at all!” elated Fluttershy. “I don’t get to talk to many termites, so this is as much a favor to you as it is an exciting opportunity for me. I’ll get them out of your trees and into a better home in no time.”

“Good, good,” said Applejack, glancing up at the nearby rooftops.

This is the right street, she thought. Where in tarnation are them balloons?

“Tell me,” said Fluttershy, “how many trees have these termites c… col…” Fluttershy halted mid-step, hoof rising slowly toward her head.

With a great breath, she forced her hoof back to the ground, then continued walking normally.

“How many trees have these termites colonized?”

She ain’t gonna scratch at ‘em or nothin’,, thought Applejack.

“‘Bout three,” said Applejack, glancing again at the rooftops. “Honestly, though, if yer busy, then don’t feel obligated t’ drop everything just t’ help me.”

“Nonsense. I can always finish my errands later.”

“Well, that’s mighty kind of—”

Applejack froze when she heard what sounded like a sick bird calling from the right. Recognizing the signal, Applejack glimpsed Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie brandishing water balloons before jumping backwards out of the line of fire. With a mighty battle cry, Pinkie and Rainbow loosed their balloons. Fluttershy was too slow to react in time. To the dismay of her would-be cleansers, however, a nearby Bulk Biceps was not too slow to react in time. With blindingly fast speed, Bulk Biceps heroically body-checked Fluttershy away from the path of the balloons. He instead faced the full brunt of their watery force, bellowing as the engorged balloons shattered, leaving him sopping wet and covered with suds. Though dazed, Fluttershy had managed to avoid landing on her mane and responded promptly to Bulk’s cry of pain.

“Oh my gosh!” she said. “Where does it hurt?”

“It’s in my eyes!” Bulk shouted, rubbing them furiously.

“The river’s right over here,” said Fluttershy. “Let’s get your eyes rinsed.”

She gingerly led him by the hoof down the street, ignoring the three schemers behind her. The three remained still, shocked that their carefully planned attack had failed.

Then Applejack shouted, “Great shot, both ya’ll!”

“How were we supposed to know that Bulk Biceps would sacrifice himself?” retaliated Rainbow Dash.

“We need to go after her!” interjected Pinkie, jumping from the roof and charging after Fluttershy.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash followed behind, once again unsure as to what Pinkie’s next move was.

The three stopped a few paces away from the riverbank, where Fluttershy was speaking encouraging words to Bulk Biceps as he rinsed shampoo suds out of his eyes.

“What can we even do?” whispered Rainbow Dash. “We should have made more than two shampoo balloons.”

“That’s why,” said Pinkie coolly, reaching into her mane, “I made three.”

Pinkie drew her weapon, then flung it at Fluttershy with another battlecry. Fluttershy, now on alert, unveiled and opened her umbrella in one smooth motion, expertly blocking the surprise attack. The balloon crashed and exploded on the umbrella, leaving Fluttershy high and dry.

“Darn,” grumbled Pinkie. “We should have made four.”

“Unbelievable!” yelled Fluttershy, casting aside the umbrella. “Absolutely disgusting!”

“N-now Fluttershy,” Applejack attempted, but Fluttershy’s rage could not be contained.

“It’s one thing to try and hit me with shampoo bombs while I’m walking down the street, but you’ve gone and hit somepony else! Applejack, shame on you for luring me here. I bet you don’t even have a termite problem!”

“That ain’t true!” protested Applejack, though she looked guilty. “Even if it was actually only two trees.”

“Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy thundered. “How dare you use a bird call to signal Applejack when you knew that would manipulate me into stopping and looking for the poor sick bird?”

“I actually didn’t know that,” confessed Pinkie. “But now I’m feeling bad about it anyway.”

“Did you even stop to consider that I might want lice?” asked Fluttershy. “That maybe I’m perfectly okay with hosting them?”

“What’s going on here?” interrupted Twilight, who had just arrived with Rarity at her side.

“Fluttershy has lice!” answered Rainbow Dash, secretly glad that Fluttershy’s attention was now divided.

“Lice? What…” Twilight examined the scene, quickly deducing what had occurred. “Let me guess. You tried to wash them out, but missed.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Well, yeah, but—”

“And did you even think to talk to her about it first?” asked Twilight crossly.

“We knew exactly what she would say,” insisted Pinkie. “She’d say that she would never wash them out. We’d end up trying to convince her, but she’d be too stubborn, and then we’d end up doing something stupid and short-sighted.”

“Like flinging water balloons at her?” asked Twilight.

“Like flinging water balloons at her,” confirmed Pinkie with a nod.

Fluttershy snatched up her umbrella and closed it.

“Will you be okay, Bulk Biceps?” she asked sweetly.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he said non-hysterically, rubbing his eyes.

“Good,” said Fluttershy with a smile. “I’ll be seeing you all later.”

She took flight, headed for home.

“... I told you it was a bad idea,” admonished Rarity, who was met with sneers.

Later that evening.

“So how’s Sweetie Belle?” asked Applejack, walking alongside Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash.

“She’s set to make a full recovery,” said Rarity, now freed of her hazmat suit (to her relief, as it was hideous). “It was a long procedure, but everything went well.”

“Were you bathing her or performing brain surgery?” joked Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie giggled and Applejack and Rarity grinned, but Twilight did not react.

“She’ll need plenty of bed rest,” counter-joked Rarity. “We can release her on Monday.”

It was Rainbow Dash’s turn to giggle.

“Guys,” warned Twilight. “We’re here.”

The five had arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage. Twilight stepped up to the door.

“I’ll go in first,” she said. “I’ll call for the rest of you, but only if she wants to see you. She’s pretty upset with you guys. Except you, Rarity.”

“Right,” said Rarity nervously. “Does that mean I still have to go inside?”

“Why’d you even come if you won’t go in?” challenged Rainbow Dash.

“I want to be there for Fluttershy. I’d just rather not be there for her lice, is all.”

“It’s not like they’re gonna jump across the room from her mane to yours,” said Pinkie. “Only fleas can do that. I think. Twilight, can fleas—”

“Hush, all y’all!” commanded Applejack. “She can probably hear us!”

With a groan, Twilight rapped at the door.

“Who is it?” called Fluttershy.

“It’s me, Twilight. May I come in?”

“Depends. Who’s with you?”

Rainbow Dash made to complain, but was quashed by a stern look from Applejack.

“I think you already know,” said Twilight. “In fact, you probably have heard everything we’ve said.”

Fluttershy said nothing for a long moment. Then she called, “You can come in. You can stay outside if it makes you feel better, Rarity.”

“Oh, thank heavens,” muttered Rarity.

Twilight opened the door slowly, stepping inside. What she found inside made her feel a twinge of sadness. Fluttershy’s animal companions all remained in the room with her, but seemed to have realized that she did in fact have lice. As a precaution, most had distanced themselves from her. Fluttershy’s spider companion had remained fairly close, but scurried away when Twilight entered the room. Fluttershy herself sat staring into a mirror, her face contorted as she shook momentarily.

Not entirely sure how to approach the situation, Twilight politely closed the door and asked, “How are you?”

“Itchy,” answered Fluttershy dryly. “They might get hurt if I try to scratch, though, so I have to resist.”

Twilight frowned, taking a cautious step forward. “Fluttershy, be honest with me. Are you really happy with head lice in your mane?”

Fluttershy stared down at her hooves. “I’m not mad at them for trying to shampoo my mane. They were just looking out for me and everypony else. And they were completely right that I would never wash them out. But I’ve barely had these lice in my mane for a day, and I can already tell that there’s no easy solution.”

“Is it just principle?” asked Twilight. “No creature, big or small, can die on your watch. Is that it?”

“Kind of. It’s different, though, with these little fellas.” She looked back up at the mirror, parting her mane to examine the lice scurrying about on her scalp. “It makes me sad when any animal dies for any reason, but I know that it happens, and sometimes you have to let it happen.”

She let her mane fall back into place.

“As soon as I found out about these lice, though, I knew that they didn’t have long. Everypony would rush to buy anti-lice formula shampoo so they could wash away the pests. But I couldn’t tell them to stop. I couldn’t ask Sweetie Belle, or Snails, or anypony else to just let the lice stay in their manes. The only pony I could tell to protect them was me. It meant that I had to stay away from water. It meant that I had to stop myself from scratching, no matter how badly I wanted to. It meant… that I had to stay away from everypony. These were all things that didn’t occur to me when I decided to protect them. Now I’ve been up and down town, and that probably means they’ve been spread to several other ponies. And those ponies will rush to the store…”

She sighed, then looked at Twilight.

Slowly, Twilight said, “This might not be what you want to hear, Fluttershy, but you know as well as I do that no matter how many balloons you dodge or how long you can keep from scratching, that it still won’t save them.”

Fluttershy blinked, tears threatening to spill forth.

“I know,” said Fluttershy quietly, looking back at the mirror. “They have to move on to survive, but if they spread then they’ll get wiped out anyway.”

Twilight stepped closer, unable to muster any encouraging words. Instead, she did about the last thing that Fluttershy expected.

“Twilight!” gasped Fluttershy as Twilight rubbed heads with her. “What are you doing? You’ll—”

“I know,” said Twilight, stepping away from Fluttershy with a slightly remorseful smile on her face. “This might sound crazy, but maybe these little guys deserve to stick around a little longer.”

Fluttershy stared in shock. She then smiled, pulling Twilight into a hug.

Thud.

Startled, Fluttershy and Twilight looked over to see where the noise had come from. They found Rarity lying unconscious on the floor, the remaining three standing above her.

“Uh,” said Pinkie, “I think she fainted.”

“Does this mean that we have to share the lice, too?” asked Rainbow Dash, looking nervous.

“Only if you want to,” said Fluttershy meekly, though she was smiling still.

“Will they eat mah hat?” asked Applejack.

“No, your hat’s safe,” said Fluttershy.

“Well, alrighty then.” Applejack stepped over Rarity to cross the room.

With a groan, Rainbow Dash joined them.

Pinkie glanced down at Rarity, saying, “Well, there are no guarantees that Rarity will join in. As for me, I figure that I’ve got plenty of things in my mane already, so adding one more won’t be a big deal.”

Pinkie joined the group. Shortly thereafter, Rarity stirred and awoke. She nearly puked at the sight of the lice being passed around. After an explanation, however, she agreed—with great reluctance—to host a share of lice.

“I go to great lengths to maintain my mane, I’ll have you know,” said Rarity indignantly. “I can make no promises that I will go without my care products.”

“They’re actually pretty resilient,” admitted Fluttershy. “I’ve been self-restricting, but the truth is that these little guys are pretty tough.”
Rarity shuddered.

“This still isn’t a permanent solution,” said Twilight, though this did not dishearten Fluttershy.

“I know,” she said. “Maybe someday we’ll find a creature with a serious dandruff problem, and we can pass these lice to them knowing we were being helpful. If we don’t ever find a creature like that, then… Well, at least we’ll give them a little more time before their time.”

Rarity sighed. “The things we do for the ponies we love.”

With a laugh, Fluttershy drew in the entire group for a hug.