My Little Diseases

It had been about a week since Twilight returned home from Zecora’s place. She had been in and out of her library, every day, for the whole week. Trying to figure out what was going on with her. Scouring through her books and reading each one, cover to cover, trying to understand why her body was changing.

While Twilight was reading a herbal remedy book, she heard a knock on the door, turning around, she saw that Spike was standing in the doorway with Rarity.
“Hey Twilight! Rarity’s here to talk about her part in planning the Gala!”
Spike explained, before inviting Rarity into the room, and leaving the 2 ponies to talk.

“Hey Rarity, how are things going?”
Twilight asked, she had dark bags under her eyes from the late nights of research, her body was beginning to change slightly from the substance she inhaled. It was only minor changes, but they were noticeable to a pony with an eye for small details, like Rarity.

Twilight’s bright pink magic was beginning to darken in colour, and the veins around the base of Twilight's horn had turned black, they were mostly obstructed by her mane, but when exposed, they were visible to the naked eye.
Rarity took a moment to look at Twilight’s horn as she noticed the black veins on her purple friend’s forehead, she gently moved Twilight’s hair out of the way to get a better look.

“Twilight.. Are you feeling alright? Your horn is different.”
Rarity asked, looking at her friend’s tired expression.

“I don't think so. I inhaled something strange at Zecora’s place and it's making me sick… I've been researching into what might be happening, but none of my books have provided any answers”
Twilight explained as she used her magic to put the books she had out, back on their respective shelves.

“Well… I was here to discuss the different coutures that I had made for the Gala, but that can wait, let's get you sorted first.”
Rarity responded simply, before picking up one of the books before Twilight had grabbed it, opening it and reading the front cover. The book was called “Lost Illnesses”. She then opened the book to the front page, which read:

‘Long lost illnesses. These diseases and viruses have been lost through time, either by the disease itself dying out, or ponies simply growing immune to it through vaccinations or evolution.’

Rarity then had a flick through, driven by morbid curiosity, trying to see if there was an article that Twilight may have missed, given how frantically she flicked through her books at times. But getting to the middle of the book, she found that one of the pages had been ripped out.
“Twilight look.”
Rarity said, holding up the book to her alicorn friend. “There’s a page missing.”

“But… How?”
Twilight started.
“This book was in mint condition when I got it in Canterlot. Spike! Were you eating my books in your sleep again!?”

Twilight shouted out to her dragon friend, only to be given a confused response.
“No, I don't sleep eat anymore, not after I figured out to eat a big meal before bed.”
Spike explained, as Twilight turned back to Rarity.

Rarity had now put the book away, and she began to explain what she believes they should do.
“Well, for now, I'd say if your books aren't giving any answers you’re looking for, have Spike look for the missing page around the castle, and we’ll go to Ponyville Hospital to see if they can give us any clue as to what’s going on. You never know, maybe the page got caught on something when your books were all transported here… Or… what was left of them”

Twilight nodded slowly in agreement, remembering the day she lost her old tree home to Tirek, losing almost all of her books, except for a select few of leather covered books. After a few moments, she thought about Rarity’s plan and smiled, before calling Spike over to get him brought up to speed.

“Spike, Rarity is going to go with me to the hospital, to see if this illness is known at all. The book that we found has a missing page, so could you look around the castle for it?”

Twilight asked, and Spike gave a salute and a determined smile.
“You can count on me Twilight! I’ll turn this castle upside down if I have to!”

Twilight giggled a bit and hugged Spike gently. Before saying goodbye and going with Rarity to the hospital.

On the way to the hospital, Twilight gave a few yawns and winced a bit, as the occasional wave of pain passed through her horn. Rarity gave her alicorn friend a concerned look as they walked side by side, and Rarity began to notice other citizens of Ponyville looking rather worried with each wince Twilight made, some of them whispering to each other.

Cutting through the town square and through the market, they soon got to the hospital, and walked into the main lobby, only to be greeted by Nurse Redheart at the front desk.

“Hello there Rarity, Princess Twilight, how may I assist you 2 today?”
She asked, her tone as friendly and welcoming as usual, her greeting almost instantly put the pair at ease before Rarity stepped forward to explain their situation.

“Well, Twilight here has been going through some odd changes, her magic colour has darkened and there's some dark lines at the base of her horn. She’s also feeling a lot of fatigue. Do you think you could have a look at her and help us understand what’s going on?”
Rarity explained, before Nurse Redheart looked at Twilight. The big bags under her eyes, the darkening horn base and the overall look of Twilight made her rather concerned.

“Alright, follow me”
Nurse Redheart instructed, as Rarity and Twilight followed her down a nearby hallway to one of the many examination rooms the hospital had.
Twilight sat down on the bed that sat along one of the walls, while Rarity sat in one of the many chairs available in the room.

Soon, Doctor Stable walked into the room and smiled wide at the pair, putting her stethoscope around the back of her neck.
“Hello, Nurse Redheart got me all caught up on what’s going on, so Twilight, with your permission I'd like to have a better look at you and see if we can determine what’s wrong.”

Twilight nodded to the doctor and allowed them to do a few quick tests. It was the usual routine. Checking her blood pressure, taking a few saliva samples, a blood sample and taking her weight and height.
Doctor Stable soon walked back into the room after running the saliva and blood tests, holding a clipboard.

She looked rather confused.
“How is everything doc?” Rarity asked, looking rather concerned, as Twilight had begun continuously coughing, as if she had something stuck in her throat.

“Well… We ran the tests, and her blood and saliva results came back saying there's nothing wrong. But just looking at Princess Twilight here, I can see that something is severely wrong.” Doctor Stable responded, her ears folding back as she walked over to Twilight, taking one more look into her mouth.

The black stain that was in her throat had now spread to the rest of her mouth, except for her teeth. Making her teeth look like they were floating in some kind of dark void. Twilight’s ears folded back and she looked at the doctor with worry.

“What do you think it is?” Twilight asked, worry growing on her face.
Doctor Stable put her hoof to her chin in thought.

“Well at the moment, you’re showing cold symptoms, along with the strange signs of your magic going dark in colour, and the dark lines around your horn. Any other doctor would say it's just a cold. But I have no idea what this would be… Ill take the results we have from your sample tests, and see if I can draw any other kind of conclusion… For now i’d say go home and quarantine yourself, just in case this infection is highly contagious.” The doctor explained, her ears folding back, feeling rather guilty that she couldn't do more to help.

Rarity gave the doctor a soft smile, while helping Twilight off of the examination bed.
“Well, we greatly appreciate your help. I'll take her home to get some rest, let us know if you find anything.”

The doctor gave a nod and discharged Twilight from the hospital, allowing the 2 of them to go back to Twilight’s castle.

Twilight was having a bit of trouble staying upright while walking, and had to lean on Rarity for most of the trip. This prompted some of the citizens of Ponyville to take notice and some tried to help.
Carrot Top ran over to the other side of Twilight, helping Rarity support the alicorn as they walked back to the castle.
Other citizens walked alongside the pair, making sure they remained steady, as well as being there in case Carrot Top needed to switch with anyone.

“What's going on? Is Princess Twilight ok?” Carrot Top asked, out of pure curiosity.
Prompting rarity to give a brief explanation, just to get her up to speed.

“She’s contracted a strange illness that the hospital can't identify. So they’ve instructed her to go home and quarantine just in case it's contagious. But I don't think it is, I've been with Twilight all day and I haven't felt any different.”
Rarity explained, and Carrot Top nodded in understanding.

Once they reached the castle, Rarity thanked Carrot Top and the other citizens for their help, and guided Twilight inside.
With the help from Spike, they got Twilight upstairs and into bed, where she landed on the bedding with a soft poof sound, and her body laid heavy on the mattress.
Twilight then gave a soft groan and rolled over in bed, revealing that her torso was now covered in dark spots that seem to have formed under the skin. They were tough, almost like white heads, but were dark in colour.

With frantic worry, Rarity left the bedroom and went to the castle library, picking up a scroll and a quill, as well as some ink. She then called Spike to the library and they began writing a scroll to Princess Celestia.

“If there’s anyone who may have SOME kind of answer, it's got to be Celestia…”

The scroll said:
‘Dear Princess Celestia.
My apologies for the sudden urgency, but there is something wrong with Twilight… She has suddenly fallen ill with an unknown virus and we don't know who else to help her.

Her magic has gone almost completely black in colour, the veins around her horn and forehead are becoming visible, as well as also turning black. And as of this morning, she has developed some strange spots on her stomach that are darker than her usual fur colour, but I suspect they will soon turn completely black as well.

If you have any knowledge or any kind of explanation for this, please write back to us as soon as you can…

Kind Regards

• Rarity.’

Spike then sent the scroll to Celestia in a small burst of green flame, before looking up at Rarity.
“Well… All we can do now is wait…” Spike said softly, tears coming to his eyes as he thought about Twilight and her current condition.

Rarity’s ears folded back and she hugged Spike tightly, comforting him the best way she could think of.
“It's alright Spike.. I'm sure the princesses will think of something…”

Rarity then remembered the lost page from Twilights book and asked Spike if he had found it.

"Oh... No. I searched all over the castle. I found a bunch of spare scrolls, some lost quills and even a comic book i had lost... But no book pages..."
Spike admitted in a rather defeated tone.

So until Celestia writes back... All they could do, was sit and watch Twilight's condition get worse...