The Rasp

Applejack loomed over me, glaring down at me with a look of disdain. I flashed a nervous smile and she gave a sigh. Thing is, I don't think she was mad. She didn't sound mad. She sounded exhausted.

"Sugarcube, I told you not to set hoof down here, didn't I?!" Yeah, Applejack was mad. I stared up at her silently, going over the options I had in my head. Did I race back upstairs? Did I break out of the rope with a burst of fire, and demand Twilight be set free? Did I plead for mercy? In the corner, Pinkie Pie was nursing at a bandage over her left ear. I could already guess: Rainbow bit her. A little further over, Fluttershy was sitting against the wall, with Rainbow Dash lying in her lap. The cobalt pegasus shuddered and trembled feverishly in Fluttershy's grasp, mumbling to herself and clearly out of it. Her wings had become completely devoid of feathers. All of them were gone, leaving thick, bone tendrils of naked skin sprouting from her shoulders. Fluttershy was dotting her head with a damp sponge and shushing at her quietly.

"Sugarcube." Applejack asked. I looked up. She glared down at me.

"Y'all....thirsty?" She asked after peering at me for what seemed like forever. I shook my head. Thirsty? How could I be thirsty at a time like this?! I promptly held up a claw. Applejack glanced over towards Pinkie Pie, and Pinkie Pie gave a sullen sigh.

"Spike...hey, Spike, come here..." She cooed at me quietly. The way you might coo at a feral dog or some unstable creature. I peered at her curiously and looked up at Applejack. She nodded her head, and I quietly climbed to my feet and made my way over to Pinkie Pie, who smiled at me sadly.

"Are you thirsty, Spike? "She asked me, and flashed me a nervous grin. Again, I shook my head. No, I wasn't really thirsty. Pinkie and Applejack exchanged glances.

"Y'all sure we can't interest y'all in a nice cool glass of water, Spike?" Applejack asked me, Slowly approaching me with a glass of water she'd gotten from somewhere. Behind me, Pinkie Pie tensed up, as if she were preparing for someone to hit her. I frowned.

"No thank you. I'd really like to know what's going on, though? Like, for real, okay? Now, maybe? I'm not cool with Twilight being all tied up like that!" I snapped, jerking a claw over towards my sister. Applejack and Pinkie nodded at one another, and Applejack placed the glass of water she was holding to the side.

"Spike. y'all need ta listen closely, okay? Yer sister...Twilight's sick Spike. She's sick with somethin' the folks up in Canterlot are callin' "The Rasp." Other than that, we don't know too much about it. Dr. Stable up n' disappeared n' Nurse Red Heart is running ragged with all these here cases. Right now we're trying to figure out exactly what to do, but I'd hoped y'all wouldn't have to see her like this. Seems like it effects Pegasi n' Unicorns, but ain't got no effect on us Terra ponies. I reckon it's our natural defenses 'gainst gittin' sick. But even with the Terra ponies up and about, things ain't lookin' good. That's all the news we've got." Applejack said miserably. I stared at her with my mouth wide open. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! The whole town and Twilight too?! Was this some sort of horrible nightmare?!

"Twilight?" I asked, turning towards the purple unicorn strapped to the corner. She didn't reply. She only continued to sit there, gurgling a quiet, hissing noise. Her eyes were rolled back in her head, and a slack line of drool dangled from her lips. I wanted to cry. This couldn't be the end of my sister's journey! This couldn't be everything she built for herself! Not this!!!

"Twilight!" I sobbed, reaching out for her. Her eyes snapped open and settled on me for an instant, then the rest of the room. I could tell something was very, very wrong. She leapt to her hooves instantly and hurled herself in my direction. If it weren't for the rope restraining her, she'd have crashed into me. Instead, she was standing on her hind legs, snapping and gnashing at the air. She strained the rope to its limit, choking herself with her wild attempts to get free. For whatever reason, she didn't bother to use her magic.

"SPIKE! SPIKE THANK GOODNESS IT'S YOU!! SPIKE!! SPIKE LISTEN TO ME! THERES SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY BLOOD! I CAN FIX IT, BUT I NEED MORE TIME, SPIKE! I NEED MORE TIME! I NEED...G-GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD, SPIKE! CAN I HAVE YOURS?! I NEED YOUR BLOOD! I CAN FIX IT WITH YOUR BLOOD!! GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD!! GIVE IT TO ME! GIVE IT TO ME!! GIVE IT TO ME!! GIVE IT TO ME!!" She screamed, over and over again, until it slurred into one long harmonized cry. She threw herself forward again, bouncing against the strength of Applejack's patented knots. She hissed and gurgled, biting and chomping the air in my direction. Applejack watched sadly and shook her head.

"Starts with the urge for a drink. Ponies get real thirsty, and cough a lot and claim they've got a headache. After that, they don't want water no more. They think somethin's wrong with it. Cough gets worse n' worse. Then they start thinkin' up things that ain't real! Thought it was just Unicorns at first, but that ain't the case. Twilight, Lyra, Rarity, Sweetie Belle. All of 'em claim there's somethin' wrong with their blood. In Rarity's case, she kept saying her 'magic was off' but, but I didn't...I didn't think nothin' of it...Oh,...Rares..." Applejack whimpered quietly. She drew in a deep breath, rubbing the back of her hoof over her eyes and adjusted her hat.

"W-We don't know how ponies are catchin' it. Don't know why Terra ponies are immune to it, either. Pegasi....well they get real aggressive like. They don't want no water either and get real stressed out. Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane both started screaming that 'somepony was trying to steal their feathers'. Even though she lost all of 'em from the sickness. Ain't rightly know how it affects dragons. "Applejack said. Slowly, it dawned on me they didn't trust me. Had I been acting strange lately?! Sleeping, sure, I've been really tired, and really worried. But, what if I'm infected?! What if my scales all fall off?! What if I lose my fire breath?! What if I start hurting ponies?!

I wanted to cry out! To assault my fears and beat them into place. I wasn't sick! I couldn't be! I had to take care of Twilight! There had to be something we could do!

"I'm fine!" I growled, clenching my claws into fists. "I don't care if I'm sick. We have to fix Twilight! We have to make this better!" I barked. I could feel the tears welling up behind my eyes. Without Twilight I didn't have any sort of plan. I didn't even have any sort of hope. The town was closed, the sickness was everywhere and it was only a matter of time before...

I didn't want this to happen.
I couldn't let this happen.
I wouldn't let this happen!

"The thing about the water...that's rabies. That's rabies, but Ah ain't nevah saw no rabies like this before. This...This ain't rabies. Ain't nevah seen nothin' like it...R-Rares, I'm sorry, I shoulda..." Applejack sputtered to herself, I was too busy staring at Twilight to really pay Applejack any attention. My mind was racing through every issue of Power Ponies, The Gryphon Tales, The Dragon Defenders, and "The Revengers." Any relevant issue to sneaking out of a heavily guarded area. Even if it wasn't the same circumstances, maybe there was something I could do that might work anyway. Come on Spike, think! Think, Think, Think! What would Twilight do? What would big sister say with her big sister brain? She's standing right next to me. Listen to her?! What's she saying?

I desperately clawed at the walls of my own head, searching for an answer that wasn't there. This was way too big for me to handle, and I didn't know who else could help. The Princess wasn't responding to me, Dr. Sable was nowhere to be seen, Nurse Red Heart was running ragged, and most of the pegasus ponies and unicorns were apparently infected with "The Rasp."

I looked back at Twilight. After having stepped back from her after her outburst, she seems to have forgotten all about me. She's gone back to making a guttural hiss and staring into the space behind her eye sockets. I stare for a long time. She didn't move. She didn't speak. That wasn't my sister anymore. I felt a bitter, burning anger inside of me, a way I hadn't ever felt before. Rage, despair, frustration, and hopelessness all melted into one ferocious strangled scream from my lips. I wanted to burn the whole library down!! None of this was fair at all! Twilight was a good pony! Why did bad things happen to good ponies!! I wanted to tear through the wall. I wanted to march right up to the guards and demand they let us into Canterlot for help. I wanted to write Princess Celestia ten thousand letters demanding to know why she abandoned us.

I didn't do any of those things. Instead, I simply lifted my arm, brought my closed fist to my muzzle and coughed into it absent-mindedly.

Oh no.