The sunlight came in from Scootaloo's bedroom window, falling on her face. She clenched her eyes shut and rolled over. After three minutes however the heat had become unbearable. She sat up on the bed.. and rubbed her eyes. "Good morning Mom," she said reflexively. She reached over and tapped the picture that was on the night stand at the head of her bed.
"Uhg, what time is it?" She looked up at the clock on the wall. 11 o'clock. "Huh, what day is it?" She looked at her haphazardly marked up calendar. Thursday. "Huh," she said her mental clogs slowly turning. Thursday, 11 o'clock. "School!" She jumped out of bed nearly tripping over all of the random stuff that littered her floor. She grabbed her saddle bag from the top of her dresser, and threw it over her as she hurried out into the hall. Dad must have gotten so caught up reading he forgot to get me up.
She got to the bottom of the stairs, and to her surprise found the living room empty. Her dad wasn't in his chair. "Dad?" She walked into the kitchen. The sink was empty; the kitchen hadn't been touched since last night. "Dad?" she called again as she walked back up the stairs. His door was right down the hall from hers. "Hey Dad are you alright?"
Her dad's room was organized to an insane degree. The pictures on his dresser were all organized by year, as were the family portraits on the walls. The books in the bookshelves were organized to a point that even Twilight would sit down and start taking notes. The one time that Spike had been in here he had told her dad only half jokingly that he'd set them on fire to keep that from happening.
"Scootaloo," Quibble coughed from under the covers. "Uhg. What time is it?"
"It's about five after eleven."
"What? Why are you-" He started whizzing and coughing. "Why are you not at school?"
"I literally just woke up, like five seconds ago." Scootaloo waited her dad always chastised her when she used words like "literally" incorrectly.
"You need to go to school right now." Scootaloo sighed just like that she knew she wasn't going to be seeing Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle today.
"No, sorry dad you're way to sick I'm staying home." She walked over and put her hoof on his forehead and frowned. "Definitely to sick."
"Scootaloo listen to me right now, if you don't go to school right this instant then you are-" he threat was interrupted by a sudden coughing fit. "Then you are grounded young lady."
"Fine, you can ground me, or spank me, or send me to a corner when you're feeling better" She sighed. "I'll be right back." Her dad could be just as stubborn as a mule sometimes; she however was twice as stubborn as any mule or donkey she knew, and she new Cranky. She pulled out a white wash cloth and put it under the faucet and let it get drenched in cold water. Once it was soaked and cold she took it out and wrung out as much as she could. It was dripping a little when she headed back to her dad's room.
"I told you to go to school," Quibble said when he heard his daughter come back. He tried to sit up, but a sudden and sharp pain in his head convinced him to sit lay back down.
"I thought that I made it pretty clear that your to sick to be left alone." She pointed a hoof at him. "You need food, medicine, and rest. If you were alone you'd only be able to get one of those three." She walked over, and put the wet cloth over his eyes and forehead. "You probably have a flu of some kind. You weren't doing to well last night either." She frowned. "You should have gone to the doctors yesterday."
"Scotaloo I am fine." She knew her dad well enough to know that he was glaring at her from under the rag.
"No you're not fine. After lunch I'll go and get some medicine, then you will be fine." She returned his unseen glare. As much fuss as he raised about pointless and trivial things she wished he'd apply some of that to his own health. Maybe next time he feels under the weather he'll go and get it checked out, instead of letting it get out of hoof like this.
"Scootaloo go to school. Go get Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy they'll help, and then get yourself to school."
"Can't dad Rainbow Dash is currently touring with the Wonderbolts and won't be back until the day after tomorrow, and Fluttershy is currently at a nature reserve, and she won't be back until some time next week. Just be glad that I'm a better cook than Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo shuddered a little remembering them being Cutie Mark Crusaders Taco Stand Chiefs. Her dad's sudden coughing fit brought her back to the present. "I'll grab a glass of water." She was gone before he could raise any objections.
She was back in an instant glass of water in hoof. "I'm going back down stairs. We're having cream soup, call me if you need anything." She left the room quickly before her dad could start back up the argument.
***
Scootaloo sighed as she closed the front door. Lunch went as well as could have been expected. Forget mules and donkeys dad was as stubborn as a rock. She may have been born looking like her mom, but there would never be any doubt that he was her dad. If he was going to be as stubborn as a rock then she'd be stubborn to. She headed to the Everfree Forest. Apple Bloom had told her how once Zecora had brewed a potion that fixed a chipped tooth in only a few seconds. Surely she would have a cure for whatever flu that her dad was currently dealing with.
She couldn't believe before Twilight came to town nopony would ever go into the Everfree Forest. She could barely remember why ponies were so scared of it. Sure there were still Timber Wolves and even a hydra and a dragon, but so long as you remained on the ancient trails you were okay. Ponies were even thinking about rebuilding the old castle. She didn't even realize that she was in the Everfree Forest until she was at Zecora's hut. She knocked on the door.
"Hello Scootaloo, I was not expecting to see you." Zecora welcomed her in. "I must ask why you aren't in school, remember skipping is never cool." Scootaloo looked around she wasn't normally here, and Zecora's decorations were as exotic as her voice.
"My dad is sick, so I'm staying home to take care of him." She meet Zecora's knowing and patient gaze. "I was hoping you would know a remedy, to help him get better quicker."
"You are lucky I have such a remedy. My strongest brew will make him better by evening." Zecora enjoyed the beaming smile on the filly's face. "To help your father and get you back in class, I will gladly part with a flask." She went to the other room, and soon returned with a small pouch. She gave it to Scootaloo who put it in her saddle bags. "Put this with water and stir it for a spell, then have him drink it all, and he will get well."
"Thank you Zecora. Have a good day!" She said galloping back home. She was quick to pull out a glass and fill it full of cold water. She added the medicine and stirred it thoroughly, untin all of the purple powder was completely dissolved. She went as fast as she could up to her dad's room, and helped him drink it. After she had given him his medicine she closed the door. She'd let him get as much rest as he could. Until she had to wake him up for supper. It was still five hours until she had to get diner made for them. She grabbed a couple of gloves, some disinfectant, and a rag. The chore for Thursday was cleaning the kitchen, and sine she had the gloves and disinfectant she'd go ahead and get Friday's chore done to. It would give him time to rest tomorrow as well.
***
Quibble woke up and took the rag off of his face. The first thing that he noticed was how dark the room was. It was pitch black save for the small amount of moon and star light coming in from his window. The second thing that he noticed was that he wasn't alone, somepony else was in the room with him. He could hear their soft breathing, and felt their weight on the covers. He saw the orange Pegasus leaning over on the other side of the bed. "Sea Breeze?"
"Huh, mom?" Scootaloo asked easily half asleep.
"Scootaloo." Quibble patted her head. "What time is it.
"Last I checked it was five minutes until one." She didn't bother sitting up. "Are you doing better?"
"I am." Quibble felt better than he had all week.
"I did all of the chore for today and Friday." She yawned.
"You scrubbed everything down twenty times?"
"No twenty is a stupid number." He sighed at his daughter's answer. "I'm still grounded aren't I?"
"No, just bring all your work home tomorrow. I'll help you with it." He looked at the clock the little hand was on the one and the minute hand was on the four. "Let's get you to bed." He got up and put her on his back, and carried her to her bed. Glad that the house was so well organized, and his eyes had adjusted when he got to his daughter's minefield of a room.
"Good night Mom good night Dad." She said as he lay her down on her mattress. "Love you."
"We love you to Scootaloo." He smiled as she closed her eyes. He pulled the covers over her.
