Sick Situation

Zecora and Meadowbrook searched for what seemed like an hour until the zebra found a book she hadn't opened in a long time. "Ah ha, here it is," she said, "Now let's see what the potion recipe says." They looked through it until that found one about fire.

The page read, "For those who are afraid of getting burnt a fire immunity potion is what you need."

Ingredients:

• Three Dragon Scales
• Two Fresh Lava Rocks
• A Spicy Herb
• Water at 300°F

"Hmm, I forget about this potion, so we'll need some help to put it in motion."

"I can only think of two dragons," Meadowbrook said. "I'm not sure that Twilight and her friends will let them help."

At the school, Sandbar was lying on his bed hooked up to a breathalyzer and a heart monitor. Doctor Dose and two other doctors were trying to find out what was wrong.

"Will Sandbar be okay?" Yona asked.

"I honestly don't know," Doctor Dose replied. "Until we can figure this out, you're going to have to give us some room."

"You heard the doctor," said a pony in a hazmat suit, "Stay out and let us do our jobs." He pushed the yak and the rest of Sandbar's friends. Yona was at the point of crying.

"Yona it's okay," Ocellus said, "They're... Going to figure it out."

"It doesn't sound like it," Smolder said. "They've been at this school for like four hours. I'm sure they would've found something."

"Well... Maybe..." Ocellus was trying to think for a reason why the doctors were still looking for the problem.

"Maybe they don't have a reason. Sandbar might not make it and we're stuck her with her thumbs up our noses." The two looked over to Yona, who was just sobbing.

"Yona, don't cry."

"What if Yona never see Sandbar walk again," the yak wept.

"Don't talk like that. We'll get through this."

"How?"

"By breaking out," Smolder said.

"But we'll get caught."

"Either we lose our friend just sitting here or we try to get out." The dragon and changeling stood up and walked off as Yona stayed behind staring at the door.

Gallus and Silverstream were still locked in their room with Shining Armor guarding the blocked exit for good measure. "Is this really necessary?" Gallus asked.

"If we don't want you escaping again, then yes," Shining replied.

"We were just trying to help," Silverstream said.

"Leave it to the professionals."

"Yeah, they're doing just great," Gallus said sarcastically.

"Mr. Armor," Ocellus said as she and Smolder walked up to him, "Could you let our friends go?"

"Sorry kid," Shining said, "I've been given orders to keep them locked up."

"Yes, treat the students your trying to help like prisoners," Gallus said.

"You're not helping."

"I know. You won't let us."

The group then heard some commotion coming from outside. "Shining Armor," Spike called running towards him, "The students' parents are outside rioting."

"You've gotta be kidding me," the guard groaned. He followed Spike to the school entrance, leaving the other creatures behind.

"He seriously just left us," Gallus said in amazement. "Smolder, could...?"

"On it," the dragon interrupted. She breathed fire on the locked door and then kicked it down. The burnt wood pieces scattered all over the floor. "Let's go."

The four raced down the hall and into the library. They removed they grate and crawled into the cave. "Wait, where's Yona?" Silverstream asked.

"She's still waiting outside Sandbar's dorm," Ocellus explained. "She's not leaving him."

"Then we won't force her," Gallus said. "Let's go." They placed the grate back and walked to where Gallus and Silverstream found the exit.

"This place gives me the creeps sometimes," Smolder admitted.

"Same," Ocellus said. "How do we get out of here?"

"Right here?" Silverstream said pointing towards a crack with light. They pressed up and they were back in Twilight's castle. They escaped so no one can see them and they snuck around town.

"I kind of feel bad for leaving Yona behind," Smolder said.

"You saw her when she was worrying about Sandbar," Ocellus said. "She'd be crushed if she couldn't see him. Plus, we can't go back now. The way back is sealed and we can't get through Shining Armor's dome."

"We can't go to Sweet Apple Acres either," Gallus stated. "There are ponies everywhere there."

"Then where do we go?" Silverstream asked. None of them could answer the question.

"We didn't think this through."

"No," Smolder sighed. Gallus looked towards Ocellus when an idea struck him. He began whispering it to his friends.

Back at the school, Yona was still sitting outside of Sandbar's dorm. Doctor Dose opened the door to find the yak still waiting with tears in her eyes. "You want to see your friend, do you?" he asked with Yona nodding. She was let in to find Sandbar was awake but he still had the gear hooked up to him.

"Yona... You're still here?" Sandbar asked weakly.

"Yona not leaving friend," Yona said. "Sandbar feeling better?"

"Barely. I can barely move."

"Which is something you shouldn't do," Doctor Dose said. "You need to save your energy."

"Doc, please tell me you found the problem."

"The only thing we noticed was your cutie mark is faded." He held up a mirror so the colt could see his cutie mark. One turtle was fine, the second was faded, and the third one was just gone.

"How is this possible?"

"It's obviously got something to do with the virus."

"Sir," said one of the quarantine ponies, "Something's happening to the ponies' cutie marks."

"Are they fading?" The pony nodded and Doctor Dose followed her. Yona stayed behind with Sandbar.

"Will Sandbar be okay?" Yona asked.

"I don't know," the colt replied. "I just... Ngh. I'm getting hot."

"Yona get Sandbar some water." The yak ran as her friend groaned. As this happened, Sandbar's cutie mark lost a second turtle.

At Sweet Apple Acres, several ponies were looking at the apples from the trees that were in the mud. "How can one rain cloud cause all of this?" one mare questioned.

"I don't know," replied a stallion, "I think we should focus on the apples."

"Mind if I take a look?" asked another quarantine mare.

"Oh, hey. Can you take a look at those apples over there?" The stallion pointed to a crate of apples that had been untouched.

"I'll get right on that." The pony picked up the apple crate and walked off. The pony walked pretty far from the farm and turned back into Ocellus. The changeling found her friends hiding behind some bushes.

"Okay, I got the apples," she said in her normal voice.

"Alright," Gallus said, "Let's take a look."

"Okay, so, Sandbar ate one of these apples, right?" Smolder asked.

"Right," Ocellus said.

"But so did me and Gallus. So how are we not sick?"

"We're about to find out," Gallus said as he broke the apple in half. What they found was a bit disgusting. Inside the apple looked like it had green veins coming from its core. The part of the apples that would normally be light yellow was now gray and mushy. Gallus kept the apples slice moving in his claw which was frustrating Smolder.

"Could you stop shaking it?" she asked.

"It's freezing." He gave one of the slices and she was shocked at how cold it was.

"Wow, you're not joking."

"Can I hold one?" Silverstream asked.

"Here," Gallus said giving the hippogriff his slice. "My claw's numb now."

Silverstream tried touching the inside of the apple slice and found it very mushy. She squirmed when she felt the inside of it and the mush just felt on the ground. What surprised her pearl piece now had its bottom covered in moss. "Ew, my necklace is dirty now," Silverstream groaned with disgust.

"That looks like the same moss that was on Sandbar's tongue," Ocellus said.

"Why is it on her pearl piece?" Smolder asked.

"I don't know," Silverstream replied as she tried to scrape it off.

"Silver, don't touch it," Ocellus said. When she got close to the hippogriff, she accidentally stepped in the apple mush which quickly crawled up her foreleg. "GAH! Get it off me. Get it off me!" The changeling was in a quick panic as she tried to scrape the mush which was turning into moss. Before her friends could react, the moss crawled up to her horn and stuck.

As fast Smolder scraped the moss of the changeling's horn, it just grew back twice as fast. "Stupid moss," the dragon groaned, "Why won't you come off."

"Keep it down," Gallus ordered, "They're going to hear us."

"Let's get out of here," Silverstream said. The picked up the crate of apples and made a break for it.

"How are you feeling?" Smolder asked Ocellus.

"Fine," the Changeling replied. "A little lightheaded."

"Just like Professor Rarity."

"Oh no. What do we do?"

"Shush," Gallus said, "I hear some creature coming." The hid around the corner of a shop as Mage Meadowbrook and Zecora walked past.

"Who's the zebra?" Silverstream questioned.

"I think that might be Zecora," Ocellus said. "Remember Professor Fluttershy talking about her."

"Sort of," Smolder replied. "Should we ask them for help?"

"Probably," Gallus said. "Ocellus can you transform?"

"On it," the changeling replied. She changed into her pony form and walked toward the two potion makers.

"Well, we have the spicy herb," Meadowbrook said as Zecora paid the pony at the stand. "Where are we supposed to get the other ingredients?"

"Excuse me," said the disguised changeling, "What are you doing?"

"We're trying to make a potion," Zecora replied, "But we're laking what we need to put it in motion."

"Oh, do you usually ryh...?" Ocellus groaned as her body started changing color. Her body turned blue and her mane pink as she suddenly changed back into a changeling. "What?"

"Are you one of the students at the school of friendship?" Meadowbrook asked.

"Yes, but..." Ocellus held her head as she collapsed, much to her friends' shock. They came out of hiding and ran over to see if she was okay. The changeling could barely stand.

"It's this stupid moss," Smolder said, "It's maker her weak like Sandbar and the other students." They looked towards Zecora, who seemed to be angry at them.

"Oh, we were..." Silverstream tried to think of an excuse but Gallus stopped her by grabbing her beak.

"I know for a fact you should be in school," Zecora said, "So don't you try to play me for a fool. The virus will get worse without a doubt, but I must ask how did you get out?"

"Long story," Gallus said. "Look, we know you're trying to make a potion to fix this, let us help you."

Zecora was about to object but Meadowbrook spoke up. "Zecora, we need dragon scales, remember?" she asked.

"What for?" Smolder asked backing away a bit.

"We found out how to cure this mossy bug. We need to heat it up to a boiling point."

"But there's no way they could survive that heat," Gallus said.

"We know," Zecora said, "But we have a way to fix that though. A potion we're making will let ponies walk through fire, so the heat they'll take won't be dire."

"So, what else do you need?" Ocellus asked.

"Three dragon scales, two fresh lava rocks, and water boiling at three hundred degrees," Meadowbrook explained.

"Alright," Smolder sighed, "Do it."

"Do what?" Silverstream asked.

"They need dragon scales. Rip some of mine off." The hippogriff did as yank off three dragon scales, each one making Smolder yelp.

"Got them." Silverstream handed the scales to Zecora who put them in her bag.

"Okay, and lava rocks?" Gallus questioned.

"I'm on it," Smolder said. "Let's go, Ocellus. Maybe the heat from the lava can help you." The dragon and changeling flew off as the remaining creatures look at each other.

"Follow us to Zecora's hut," Meadowbrook said.

"Actually, I think I'm going to follow them," Gallus said. "I'm not sure how much longer Ocellus will stay up." The griffon flew after his friends as the others walked towards Zecora's hut.

It took a while for Smolder and Ocellus to get to the dragon lands but they found a lava pool pretty quickly. "Okay," Smolder said, "Stay here." She dived in as the changeling started feeling uncomfortable. The heat was started to mess with her head.

"Ocellus," Gallus cried as he landed nearby. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Ocellus said, "Just a little dizzy." She rubbed her head as she struggled to sit up.

"Where's Smolder?"

"Lava diving. Ghh, my head is just..." The changeling then started gagging just as Smolder resurfaced some lava rocks in her claws.

"Gallus, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Check on Ocellus before she..." Gallus couldn't finish as Ocellus started throwing up a bit.

"Guys..." the changeling groaned, "I don't feel so good."

"We better get to Zecora's hut." Gallus picked up his sick friend and he and Smolder flew off as fast as they could.

"Why is she throwing up already?" Smolder questioned.

"The moss must be close to the source."

"What source?"

"I've been thinking about, but I'll explain when we get to the hut."

At Zecora's hut, the zebra was mixing the scales and herb into her cauldron. "I still don't understand why there's moss on my necklace," Silverstream said.

"It's very mysterious," Meadowbrook said as she looked at the apples the hippogriff and her friends collected. "Where did you get these apples."

"Sweet Apple Acres, Galls thought we should've looked there. Sandbar and some of the other ponies at the apples from there. However, Yona, Gallus, and Smolder ate some of the apples too. How come they're not sick?"

"Tell me about your necklace."

"My necklace? Well, it's a pearl shard from a magical pearl that allows hippogriffs to turn into seaponies and visa-versa."

"Magical you say," Zecora said, "I think I know why the ponies and your necklace are the moss's prey. Each different pony has a different type of magic, if they were to lose it then it would be tragic. I think it might what the moss is has been eating, and very soon it will be depleting."

"What?"

"The moss eats magic," Meadowbrook explained.

"Oh. Oh no, Ocellus."

Smolder and Gallus bashed down the door with carrying the lava rocks and Ocellus, who was looking like she was going to pass out. "Here are the rocks," Smolder said, "What do we do?"

"Place them into my cauldron so we..." Zecora didn't get to finish as Smolder just tossed the rocks into the cauldron and the zebra started mixing. "Rude."

"Ocellus, how are you feeling?" Silverstream asked worriedly.

"Like my inside are crawling with fleas," the Changeling replied. She started gagging some more as Silverstream got a bottle.

"The water isn't hot enough," Meadowbrook said, "The potion needs the water to be hotter."

"On it," Smolder said. She breathed fire on the bottom of the cauldron and heated the brew faster.

"Hang in there Ocellus," Gallus said trying to calm his friend down. "Can you make that any faster?"

"Almost there," Meadowbrook said. The water started to turn golden-orange and the pillar pony placed a bottle in there to fill it up. Surprisingly, when she dipped her hoof in didn't sting. "It's working."

"Then give it to Ocellus," Smolder ordered. Meadowbrook did so and once the changeling drank all the potion that was in the bottle she then turned to dragon.

"You need to breathe fire on her horn."

"What?"

"It's fire immunity potion. She's immune to fire now." Smolder walked up to her friend and breathed fire on the changeling's horn. While the moss burned away, Ocellus remained fine. When all the moss was gone Smolder stopped. "It worked."

"Alright," Ocellus said as she slowly stood up. Her legs were pretty wobbly and she nearly fell down. "So, are we going to use this on the whole school?"

"Yes, but we're going need a plan."

"It looks like you have a couple of gallons of this potion," Gallus said. "Maybe we could attach it to the school's sprinkler system. It'll be a good way to test it."

"That's one problem we have beat, but how are we going to get the school to that much heat?" Zecora questioned.

"I'm not sure about that."

"Maybe Spike can help think of a solution," Silverstream said.

"Right," Meadowbrook said. "Ocellus, come with me. The rest of you help Zecora fill up some bottles." The pillar pony and changeling left the hut as the other creatures got to work.

Shining Armor was furious that some of the students had gotten out again. The parents were bad enough but the contaminated students just made it worse. "Shining, calm down," Spike begged.

"How am I suppose to calm down?" Shining asked. "Four students have escaped and have probably spread the virus to all of Equestria."

"They said they were trying to help fix the problem, they woul..."

"Spike, they're teenagers. They're just making things worse. I'm going to look out looking for them." Just as Shining left the school and walked through his dome he saw Meadowbrook and Ocellus walking towards him. "There you are."

"Sir, let me explain," Meadowbrook spoke. "We've found out how to get rid of the virus. If we get the infected students hot enough we can burn the virus out. To help with this, we've made some fire immunity potions to protect the students from getting harmed from the heat."

"This sounds crazy."

"But I was the first one to be tested," Ocellus said. "Some moss got on my horn, I drank some of the potion, and after Smolder breathed fire on me the moss was gone."

"I'm more interested in listening to the creature who was following what she was told."

"I understand your anger but we needed one of your students to help get some of the ingredients," Meadowbrook said, "Without her, we wouldn't be able to make this potion."

"I can agree to that," Smolder said as she walked up with her friends and Zecora walked up with a covered cauldron riding in a cart pulled by the zebra.

"We drank some of the juice so we didn't get burned lifting the cauldron," Silverstream explained.

"What are you going to do with all of that?" Shining asked.

"We're going to spray every creature in the school by hooking this up to the school's sprinkler system," Gallus explained.

"You'll need to get them into one place," Spike said as he joined in the conversation. "We've only gotten the system in the teacher lounge, cafeteria, and all the classrooms."

"Actually, the potion only makes you immune to deadly heat," Ocellus said.

"That's why you're going to help me heat up the school," Smolder said.

"Are you going to do that?" Meadowbrook asked.

Later, Spike showed Smolder to the boiler room. "Here we are," he said, "The thing that keeps the school warm."

"Alright," Smolder said, "Let's turn up the heat."

"Not yet," Meadowbrook cried, "We need to attach the potion to the sprinkling system."

"You do that," Gallus said, "We're going to get everyone in the right rooms." Gallus, Silverstream, and Ocellus raced off to get all the sick students to right places.

Yona was sitting by Sandbar's bed with the colt now looking much skinnier. "Sandbar, stay strong," Yona begged. He tried to reply but he could let out some moans and groans which made the yak more upset.

"Yona, there you are," Silverstream said as she entered the room.

"Silver," Yona wept, "Sandbar... Not strong."

"Don't worry, we have a solution. Help me get the students and get the students into the cafeteria." The yak didn't understand one hundred percent but she still picked up Sandbar and helped Silverstream carry the students.

Gallus and Ocellus had moved the students into the class lounge. "Okay," Ocellus said, "Let's move onto the other rooms."

One by one, the different creatures moved all the sick ponies into the classrooms until the teacher lounge was the only room left. "What are you doing?" asked a sick Twilight.

"Helping you out," Gallus explained. "Silver, go tell Smolder and Spike to get fired up."

"On it," the hippogriff replied as she flew off.

"What exactly are you planning?" Applejack asked weakly.

"You'll see," Gallus replied.

Down in the boiler room, the dragons were helping zebra and sorceress hook up the potion to the sprinkling system. Once it was hooked up, they turned it on. The potion traveled through the pipe and into the sprinklers and all over the sick ponies.

"Hey, Smolder," Silverstream called as she flew up to them. "You can start firing it up now."

"Great," Smolder said, "Let's do this Spike." The two dragons took a deep breath fire up the boiler as hot as they could.

Everyone else in the school could feel the temperature rising but thanks to the fire immunity potion spraying all over them they were fine, partly. They coughed and gagged as burnt moss escaped their mouths the virus couldn't stand the heat. Sandbar shook a bit as his cutie mark slowly started to return.

"Y... Yona," he groaned as he stood up. The yak took him by surprise by giving him a huge hug.

"Sandbar feel better?" she asked. The two look towards his returned cutie mark.

"Much better." The same could be said about all the other ponies who were recovering from their sickness.

"It's working," Ocellus cheered.

"Yeah, we saved the school," Gallus smirked.

"We have to thank you for the help," Doctor Dose said to Meadowbrook.

"It was no problem," the pillar pony said.

"We'll gather infected apples and burn them all." Shining Armor dismantled the dome allowing anyone in or out. As he did this, Twilight had a long talk with the students that escaped.

"I understand you helped save the school," Twilight said, "But don't do it again."

"Yes, principle Twilight," the students said. The alicorn walked away as the griffon groaned.

"She can't give us any slack," Gallus complained. "I mean, bare minimum extra credit."

"Gallus, let it go," Ocellus said. "Everything is back to normal and we should be happy."

"Yona happy that Sandbar not sick anymore," Yona announced as she nuzzled the colt.

"Don't really know what you guys did, but thanks," Sandbar said.

"No problem," Smolder said.

"Hey guys," Silverstream said as she flew up to them. "Zecora's in Professor Fluttershy's class." The students walked in the classroom to find Zecora had set up her cauldron.

"I'm glad you decided to stay and help teach," Fluttershy said to her friend.

"Meadowbrook said she would be helping with the medics," Zecora said, "I think I help these students with their extra credit."

"Zecora, you're still here?" Ocellus asked.

"It's the least I can do for you helping us out, the ponies will be grateful without a doubt."

"Do you always have to rhyme?" Smolder asked.

Zecora chuckled. "No, but it's fun though."

"Like potion making," Ocellus said as she got to her seat.

"Already?" Gallus asked. "I thought we could use a break."

"Come on," Silverstream said, "I've been wanting to make potion since yesterday."

"Then sit down so we can get started," Fluttershy said. The students were curious and listened to what the pegasus and zebra had to say.