Unexpected Changes

Daisy stared out over the railing as Glory's mom pulled their wagon. They'd lost the championship because their best player had to go home early for a medical problem. She wasn't the biggest fan of hoofball, but she liked it well enough. But Lily... Lily loved hoofball.

Snapdragon nudged her. "Something troubling you, dear?" she asked. "You've barely touched your juicebox."

Daisy sighed. "It's Lily. How are we going to tell her that we lost?"

"Like this!" squeaked Glory. "Hey, Lily! We lost the championship, by the way. Did you throw up yet?"

Daisy shook her head. "That's too blunt. We need to ease her into the idea. She'll be devastated."

"That's why we need to change the subject right away!" explained Glory. She was waving her hooves so much that she almost leaned back too far and fell out of the wagon.

"Glory!" called her mother. "That's the third time you've almost fallen out. You need to sit down."

Flopping down on the bench, Glory put on her best pouting face. "Fine..."

"I don't know if tonal whiplash is going to be a good idea," continued Daisy. "Since she's sick, we probably should try to keep the news light."

Glory's mom looked back. "If she's sick, I don't know if you guys should be hanging around her."

"She's not contagious, mom!" insisted Glory. "The council said so!"

"Oh? What did the council say she had?"

"The counsellors said she had a fever, or something," corrected Daisy.

"A fever." She took a deep breath. "Yeah, that sounds contagious. Best not to risk it."

"But they said it was safe!" argued Glory.

"I'll talk to her father and find out..."

"You can do that while you drop me off," suggested Daisy. "I live, like, right next door to her."

The cart came to a stop in front of Daisy's house. They all looked up and saw that there was movement in Lily's window. Somepony was up there, and doing more than just sleeping She was awake, and she was active.

Daisy's parents came out to help her bring in her stuff, and to chat with Glory's mom, but Glory's mom was more interested in talking to Lily's dad. "Did you know Lily was sick?"

Daisy's parents had heard, as they'd talked to Cloverleaf about Lily's condition. While they did inform her of the specifics, Glory's mom continued to insist that she go and talk to him.

It took just shy of a minute for Cloverleaf to answer the door. He was sweaty and panting. "Oh. Yeah, sorry, I forgot to tell you; Lily had to come home from camp early."

"I heard," she nodded. How is she?"

"Oh, she's doing much better."

"Why are you all sweaty?"

Cloverleaf looked back into the house. "I was working out. Desk jobs aren't great for your health, so I need to make time for it when I can."

"Ah."

Back around the side of the house, Daisy was standing in her yard, about to throw a tiny rock up to Lily's window when she poked her head out. She was also really sweaty, but she looked to be in a good mood. "Oh. Hi, Daisy."

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, just wonderful..." As she sagged on the windowsill, Daisy couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic.

"So, do you still have a fever, then?"

"It's called "heat," and yeah, I still have it."

"Oh. So, you're not doing well?"

"No, I am!" she insisted. "I still have it, but the treatment for it is..." She waved her hoof as if throwing a dart. "It's just the best..."

"So, you're in a good mood because of your meds?"

She nodded vigourously. "Yep!"

"So, what's the treatment?"

Lily looked around her room. "There's some crystals and charms, some ointment, and some tea. And then-- hang on..." She ducked back in and came back with a box. "This is that tea. It tastes really good, too!"

Daisy tilted her head to the side. "It is medicine, right?"

"Ya-huh!"

"So, I probably shouldn't be tasting it..."

"Well, not yet, but my daddy says that all fillies go through heat. It's part of becoming a mare! And if yours is as aggressive as mine, then you'll need this tea, too!"

Just then, Daisy's mom came out through the back door. "Daisy, you need to come put your stuff away."

"Hi, miss Delight!" shouted Lily from her window, waving vigourously.

Daisy's mom smiled and waved back, ushering her daughter into the house. "Come on. If you finish up early, you can go over and see her in her house, rather than needing to shout through the second-floor window..."

Hearing that, Daisy rushed through her tasks, and within the hour, ran over to Lily's house and knocked on the door. By then, Lily had cleaned up, and was wearing a towel around her mane.

"It's safe to come in, right? The doctors said it wasn't contagious?"

Lily chuckled. "Of course it's safe. Come on."

They made their way up to Lily's room. Usually, Lily kept it pretty clean, but this time, there was a lot of stuff tossed around haphazardly. Her bedspread was all tousled, there were a lot of damp towels on the floor in need of washing, and of course, the crystals and charms were hanging as mentioned. There were also several candles, some of them melted, some half-melted, others intact. There were a few spots where the wax had dripped onto things and stained them, but Lily didn't seem to mind. Which was odd, because she was usually against any damages to her things.

"Wow. This is... Wow."

Lily waved. "I've been a bit overwhelmed. But I'm crystal clear, now, so I would start on the washing, except my dad's in the shower, so I have to wait for the water to heat up again, first."

"Your dad's in the shower?"

Lily nodded.

"Why? It's the middle of the day."

"Because he's all sweaty, of course!"

That made sense to Daisy. While she'd never seen him use workout equipment, she knew they had it. Lily had a weight set, but they were on the lower end. It wasn't the kind of weight that would make a stallion sweat. He may have had full gear for himself, but Daisy had never seen it. And she'd been away all summer, so of course she wouldn't see it if he'd just brought it in.