She felt a sour feeling in her stomach as she approached the main medical tent. Her knees felt weak, about to collapse again. “Not this time,” she muttered.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed through into the tent. An excited gasp immediately followed, causing Rainbow to flinch. Oh no. “Dashie!” She wearily looked over, only to be attacked with a hug by the pink party pony. “Dashie! You’re back,” Pinkie exclaimed.

Rainbow immediately noticed a few of the nearby foals cringe at the noise. “Good to see you too, Pinkie,” she replied in monotone. As Pinkie’s hug continued, she began trying to squirm out.

“I’m so so SO happy you’re here! I mean, I wasn’t even sure if you’d come back,” Pinkie explained. “I saw Rarity yesterday and I was like, ‘aren’t you supposed to be on a business trip today?’ And then she said that she was covering your shift, and when I asked why, she explained that you fainted, and I was like, ‘WHAT?’ And so Rarity explained that your little sister caught the virus and I got sooooo worried! And-”

“OKAY, I GET IT,” Rainbow shouted, her face blushing as red as a tomato. Great, she thought. Now everypony’ll think of me as some frail, fainting looser. Looking to the side, she huffed, “Thanks a lot, Rarity.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Rarity how grateful you are,” Pinkie said chipperly, Rainbow rolling her eyes in response. “So, I guess since your back, Rarity won’t have to take up your shift this morning. Hey! Maybe she could still make the business trip!”

Pinkie finally released Rainbow from the squeezing hug. “I’ll go tell Rarity about the good news. In the meantime, maybe you could drop this off for me?”

The pink mare pulled out a pink envelope coated in glitter addressed to Dr. High Horse that she somehow stuffed into her frizzy mane. “Uh, sure,” Rainbow said, wincing. She grabbed the letter carefully, trying not to get any excess glitter on her hooves. So much glitter.

With that, the pink mare ran off, shouting, “See you soon, Dashie!” Rainbow couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor foals who got stuck with Pinkie taking care of them. It wasn’t that she was a poor caretaker, not that she was great either, but her shouting must’ve made the foals want to rip their ears off. She couldn’t imagine how loud it must’ve sounded to them.

Sighing, Rainbow began walking to the tent’s exit, following the glittered tracks Pinkie left behind. As the sun came back into view, Rainbow departed from the tracks, heading for Dr. Horse’s private tent.

Walking through the hastily made medical grounds, she spotted dozens of volunteer nurses, cooks, custodians, and a bunch of others. When she made it to the center, she saw two ponies sitting near the statue of Ponyville’s first mayor.

The pony closest to her coddled a crying stallion. Both were wearing titanium white aprons contrasted with black, ominous splotches sporadically flung atop. Morgue ponies. She felt a pit in her stomach. No matter how many times she saw them there, she always felt queasy.

Either way, she didn’t have time to observe. Passing the statue and the two ponies, Rainbow trudged onward to her goal. When she got close to the tent, she heard Dr. Horse talking with Nurse Red Heart.

“Our beds are getting filled fast,” Red Heart complained. “Those foals from Canterlot spread it faster than we can handle.”

“Red Heart, I’m trying to get more beds, but-” Dr. Horse stopped as Rainbow entered. “Oh.” Clearing his throat, he relaxed in his chair. “Ms. Dash. Welcome back,” he greeted. “Did you need something?”

“Just came to drop this… thing off for Pinkie,” Rainbow informed, holding out the glitter coated letter. “Uh, do you want me to place it somewhere, or…”

The doctor smiled. “Just place it over there,” he said, gingerly pointing to a metal letter tray. Nodding, Rainbow walked over to the tray, placing the letter down carefully. Looking over, she saw the doctor continuing his conversation with Red Heart. “Like I was saying, I’m trying to get more beds, but we’re running out of funds.”

“Then princess Twilight needs to give us more,” Red Heart retorted. “We’re taking care of Ponyville AND Canterlot foals! She needs to increase funding!”

“Now, now, Red Heart, you can’t go blaming her. She’s got a whole country to take care of, not just us,” Dr. Horse countered. “Besides, there’s only so much the princess can give.”

“Oh please. She’s just too preoccupied to worry about peasants like us,” Red Heart huffed. “Princess Celestia would’ve given us plenty had she stayed in power.”

Seeing tension in the air, Rainbow backed out the tent, hearing the bickering continue as she exited. It felt so alien to hear her friend diminished to a mere role. It made her mad. Twilight was more than that.

She shook her head. She had no time to dwell on the matter. She had a sister to see.

***

As she woke up, Scootaloo felt a dull, familiar pain emanating from the center of her forehead. She grumbled, not even bothering to open her eyes.

It was at that moment that she noticed how loud everything sounded. The day prior, she could tell it was heightened, but today was different. She could hear almost the whole tent now, in fairly clear detail, which only added to her ongoing headache.

She sighed, just lying there. She felt so lonely. They had placed her on the far-left side of the tent, the head of her bed pressed up against the tent’s left wall. To her right was a teenager, roughly 14 years of age. Despite him being only a few years older, she felt awkward talking to him.

To her left, was just an empty bed. There was a foal there when she first arrived. He was about the age of 6, and hadn’t gotten his cutie mark yet. She tried to strike up a conversation with him, but he was in too much pain. By the afternoon, they had moved him out of the tent. With nopony to talk to, she just laid there, bored to tears for the rest of the day.

“Morning, Scoot,” a raspy voice greeted. Scootaloo’s eyes fluttered open, and she sat up.

Gasping, she called, “Rainbow! You’re here!” Scootaloo’s face beamed with joy. She opened her forelegs wide, hugging Rainbow as best she could. Her back was sore from lying around all day, but she pushed past it. She needed to greet her big sister.

Rainbow gave a quiet chuckle, replying, “Good to see you too, kid.” After pulling away, she asked, “You get enough sleep last night? I know these beds aren’t the comfiest.”

“Huh?” Scootaloo blinked. “Yeah, I-I think I got enough.”

“You sure about that?” Rainbow smiled as a clearly exhausted Scootaloo nodded. “Anyway, I, uh, got some food for you.” Turning around, she picked up a plastic bowl full of warm, rolled oats and shiny red raspberries. “It tastes… eh, but it’s at least healthy.”

Gleefully, Scootaloo grabbed the bowl from Rainbow, taking a bite using the metal spoon stuck in it. As she swallowed, she stifled a gag. Bad was an understatement. It was sticky, and thick, and not even the raspberries could add enough flavor.

Rainbow nervously laughed, teetering off at the end. Scratching the back of her neck, she replied, “Sorry I couldn’t get you something tastier.” She looked back to the cart of meals behind her. “I’ve gotta deliver more meals, but I’ll be sure to visit you soon, kay?”

“O-Oh,” Scootaloo frowned. “Well, uh, I guess I’ll see you later.” Her big sister smiled and gave an affirmative nod, before pushing the cart away.

She felt her stomach grumble. “Guess I’m eating this,” she mumbled.

Lifting the spoon, she slurped up another bite, grimacing. The bite was just as bad but had a more somber tone. She thought about how alone she’d feel. How, for the rest of her life, she’d be stuck eating disgusting meals and lying in an uncomfortable bed without anypony to talk to. At least she had her sister.

“Ugh, who made this?” A voice came from the bed she thought to be abandoned. Looking over, she was shocked to see it had been filled once again. The filly in the bed looked over to her. “Oh, good morning,” she greeted happily. “Long time no see!”

“Silver Spoon?” Scootaloo asked in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”

“Hm?” Silver hummed, swallowing another bite of oats. “I tested positive last night,” she explained. “Father noticed I had a cough and tested me before bed. Guess it was a good call, seeing I’m here now.”

Confused, Scootaloo asked, “Where was I?”

“I think you were sleeping when they brought me in. It was pretty late in the night after all.” Silver Spoon took yet another bite.

“How late was it?”

Silver giggled. “3 AM,” she replied, her mouth still full of oats.

Scootaloo’s eyes shot open. “Three in the morning? Why were you up so late?”

Swallowing, she answered, “I would’ve gotten here sooner if father didn’t berate mother for so long. See, I had a bad headache that day, so by about 10 o’clock I was too exhausted to stay up. Father wanted to test me before bed, but mother said it wasn’t necessary. I let him test me anyway, just so he wouldn’t worry. That’s when the argument started. I ended up taking a nap while they were yelling at each other.”

Furrowing her brow, Scootaloo said, “Wait. So, instead of rushing you here, they sat and argued for five hours?”

“Technically, it was four and a half, and I’m not sure if it was the whole time, but yeah, close enough,” Silver replied nonchalantly. “After they were done, they woke me up and carried me here.”

“Dang,” Scootaloo commented. “Why were they arguing for so long?”

Silver sighed, taking a break from the bad oats. A sudden look of tiredness rolled over her face. “Mother and father have been arguing a lot lately. Honestly, I think they might be getting a divorce soon.”

Left speechless, all Scootaloo could do was wait for Silver to continue. “It started a while ago,” Silver continued. “I don’t know what happened, but I remember mother being extremely angry at father for a few weeks. Father ended up sleeping on one of our sofas down in the lounge.”

“But it was only for a few weeks, right?” Scootaloo asked, wearily.

Nodding, Silver explained, “For a while, everything calmed, but then it started up again, just a week ago. At least I don’t have to hear it anymore.”

The silence was deafening. Unfortunately, not deafening enough, it seemed. Scootaloo’s head began to pound harder due to the auditory overload. She grumbled, rubbing her head. “Are you alright?” Silver asked.

“Huh?” Scootaloo slowly shifted her attention back to Silver. She hid her pain with a smile. “Oh, uh, don’t worry about it. Just a little headache.”

“Oh, okay,” Silver replied. Her eyes locked onto the nearly untouched bowl of oats. “Say, are you gonna eat that?”

Scootaloo blinked. “Huh?” She looked down at the bowl she held. “You want these?” she asked. “I thought you said you didn’t like them.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Silver corrected. “These oats are worse than those flavorless crumbs they serve on Restaurant Row, but I need to eat.”

She looked back down at the bowl of oats, feeling her own stomach growl. Despite how gross they were, she too felt hungry. “Actually, I think I better eat these,” she answered. “Sorry.”

Suddenly, Scootaloo felt her body grow hot. As sweat began to surface, her face reddened. Huffing, she asked, “Uh, did it just get hotter in here?”

Silver Spoon put a hoof to her chin. “I don’t think so,” she returned. “Why? Are you hot?”

“I-” Just as quick as it started, the sudden hot flash subsided, leaving her feeling chilled. She shivered, the low wind in the tent scraping against her. “N-N-Not anymore,” she muttered.

A few more seconds passed as her body’s temperature evened. She exhaled in relief, her face relaxing. “What in Equestria was that?” she wondered aloud, scooping up a spoonful of oats.

The third taste proved to be no different from the prior, but it filled her up just a bit more. “It sounded like you were having a hot flash,” Silver chimed.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “Is that bad?”

There was a small pause as Silver chewed oats. “Not sure. It’s probably not good, though.” Looking around the tent, she suggested, “Maybe you should ask one of the nurses.”

“Huh.” A seed of worry grew in her mind. It’s gotten worse, hasn’t it, she thought. The bitter flavor and the idle chatter couldn’t distract her any longer. The futility had crept back into her. “Hey, Silver,” she asked, hesitantly. “Do you know what happens when you…”

She couldn’t find the guts to finish. In the back of her mind, she figured there wasn’t anything behind that big red curtain called life. Just dust and shattered dreams. But acknowledging that empty void? That’s something she just couldn’t do. Not now, anyway.

Biting her tongue, she disguised her fear with a different, equally troubling question. “Do you remember what happened with Diamond?” she asked frowning.

Silver’s attention peaked. “Diamond,” she mumbled. Soon after, she half-laughed. “You know, that’s the first time in ages since I’ve actually thought of her.”

Another pause came as she took a moment to munch on her oats. Silver stared into them, swirling the bowl’s contents with her spoon. “Guess I’m a pretty bad friend, seeing I hear that name so often,” she concluded.

Scootaloo shook her head. “It’s not your fault,” she consoled. “Everything’s been so hectic these past few months.”

“Why did they have to call it that, though?” Silver asked. “I mean, every time somepony says her name, all I think about is-”

“The virus?” Scootaloo concluded. “I think they called it that since she was the first to have it.”

Breaking her gaze with the bowl, Silver Spoon looked up at her bed neighbor. “Can we not talk about this?” she asked, regret in her eyes.

Eyes locked to one another, both realized their conversation had aged like milk. “Y-Yeah,” Scootaloo mumbled, diverting her focus back to her bowl.

Soon, the two grew silent, eating without interruption. Just like that, she was back to square 1 again. Alone with no one to talk to. Please come back soon.

Author's Note

Stage 2 has been completed! Hope everypony enjoyed. For those who may have noticed, I changed the description of this story. I accidentally said it was only one month instead of eight months since Twilight's coronation. My bad.

Anyway, stay tuned for Stage 3, and have a lovely day!