CringeMaster

Over the course of two days, Phantasia’s condition worsened. 

Her eyes were bloodshot and her whole body ached with a dull, but constant pain. It started in her leg, but had spread to the rest of her body by now. Zecora and Twilight had come to visit her and were shocked by her appearance, especially as the doctor explained that the antibiotics, or really any medications, weren’t making a difference in her condition. The three stood outside her room, discussing the next move.

“Do you think we should amputate her leg? It seems like it’s pretty bad…” Twilight asked the doctor, who looked equally concerned.

“I suppose? I’ve never seen an infection move this fast before. I’m not sure if amputation would help at this point”

Zecora tapped her hoof anxiously, worrying about her apprentice.

“Perhaps the particular bramble is what left her in shambles?”

Doctor Horse tapped his chin. “I’m not sure what kind of plant would be able to do this–”

“Well, she was in the Everfree Forest, that place has a lot of unknown species of plants” Twilight interjected.

The doctor agreed that perhaps they should investigate and see if they could find the plant. Perhaps send out Zecora and Fluttershy, since the two knew the area better than anypony else. The trio trotted down the hall and into the doctors main office to discuss the plan of action.

Meanwhile, Phantasia was in her room groaning and rubbing her eyes. She felt like she was in agony and was so tired. She laid down with her eyes closed and tried to take a nap.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Her ear twitched. Drip. Drip. Drip.

She growled in frustration and sat up, looking around the room for the offensive sound. Her eyes settled on the sink, but it wasn’t dripping. That's strange… then where was the sound coming from? She checked the ceiling, the walls, even double checked the sink by turning it on and off with her magic. Nothing changed. She rubbed her ears and listened, but the sound was gone.

“Sorry, that was loud wasn’t it”

Phantasia whipped her head around to the door, but no one was there. She could’ve sworn she heard Nurse Redheart.

“Um… hello?” She spoke up, but was met with silence. “I’m dreaming again, huh?” She chuckled to herself.

“Phantasia” a voice whispered right in her ear.

She leaped up off the table and backed up towards the door on shaky legs.

“W-whos there!?”

No one was in sight.

She felt her forehead with her own hoof; she was burning up. Maybe she’s imagining things. It felt so real…

“Who are you talking to?”

She yelped and ran to hide under the bed.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” Fiddlestick apologized, kneeling to see her under the bed. Phantasia let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, it’s just you– thank Celestia”

She struggled to crawl out from under the bed, waving off Fiddlestick as he offered to help. The two sat with their backs against the bed frame and made small talk. Anything from the bland hospital food to the books they were sharing. Phantasia told him about her worries and that she missed Zecora since she hadn’t visited much.

“I’m sure your mom will come back when you’re better” He comforted

“She’s not my mom” She squinted at him and the colt wilted.

“Oh, my bad I just thought…” he tapped the ground “Where… is your mom?”

She didn’t respond. Silence filled the room, but it wasn’t really awkward. He just waited; maybe she was thinking about it. Or maybe she didn’t want to talk about it. 

“My real mom left me in the woods as a baby and Zecora found me”

Her ears laid back and she picked at a chip in the floor tile with her hoof.

“Well… then that's not a mom. She might’ve been your mother, but she's not your mom”

Phantasia rolled her eyes.

“That’s the same thing!”

“No it isn’t!” He insisted “Anyone can be a mother, but it takes a lot to be a mom. Mom’s take care of you, love you and keep you safe… and to me it sounds like Zecora does that”

She stayed silent. He had a good point. One that seemed like it came from someone else.

“Who told you that?”

He chuckled nervously.

“Ah… my step-mom. She’s nice, a lot better than my original mother”

The unicorn didn’t ask what he meant by that, instead she stretched and moved to sitting back up on the bed. He went to join her, but she shook her head and moved him to the door with her magic.

“I’m tired and have a headache, we can hang out tomorrow”

He didn’t argue. He simply wished her a goodnight– despite it being noon– and let her sleep.

Two more days went by and the search for whatever plant she stepped on turned up nothing. They had no idea what part of the forest she went to, but they searched as far as they could safely. Fluttershy flew over the thicker parts where the bushes were too dense to walk through, but still found nothing. The only brambles they could find were normal, everyday plants.

“Do you think she’s just allergic?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know what allergy would do that” Twilight responded quickly as she looked between several books and papers. She was researching in her private library to try and find a possible answer.

Perhaps a foreign plant that was introduced with a bad side effect? Maybe even a poisonous plant? She couldn’t find anything that had a description similar to what was going on with the young filly. She groaned and put the books away before pulling out a scroll.

The door to the library swung open with a sweating and panting Zecora entering.

“Twilight! Something is wrong with Phantasia!”

The princess immediately dropped everything. Zecora led Fluttershy and Twilight to the hospital where a very confused Phantasia was trying to buck the nurses.

“What in Equestria is going on with her?!” Twilight shouted.

“W-we don’t know! She just started talking to herself and freaked out when the doctor walked in the room!” Nurse Redheart quickly explained “Zecora tried to calm her down but it made her freak out more”

“I want to go home! Leave me alone!” Phantasia shouted, stumbling and struggling to stand as she kept kicking.

Twilight used her magic to hold the filly down, allowing the nurses to inject a sedative. It quickly took effect and she calmed down, slowly slipping down to the floor and laying down. The nurses quickly moved her to a secure room to contain and quarantine her until they could figure out what was causing her to freak out.

“Could it be rabies?” Fluttershy suggested to Doctor Horse, who was holding ice over his freshly bruised eye.

“We aren’t sure… it's possible, but she can swallow just fine and isn’t having negative reactions to water” The princess turned to look at Zecora; she looked devastated and worried. “What is happening to my child?” she whispered to her friend.

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out”

🌟🌟🌟

Things were not looking good.

By day seven, Phantasia had lost her magic and her hair had begun falling out. Her colours were dull and her irises had turned white. The skin on her back leg where the bramble had poked her was completely gone; Dull flesh, muscle and bone exposed.

Her chest had a large lump of flesh hanging on, exposing the surface of her sternum and ribs through a gnarly gash created by her own hooves. She had thrown herself against the wall so many times in a futile attempt to kill herself that a deep gash formed on her head, exposing her skull. Her ear was torn and mangled, several spots on her front and back legs exposed more muscle and bone. Despite her emaciated state, she was still somehow strong enough to dent the door trying to escape.

She screamed and begged for them to kill her, but no one wanted to get close enough to check her since she had become so violent in her confused state. At this point, she’d given up asking for help and just laid down on the floor, crying.

The door creaked open, but she didn’t notice, and Fiddlestick hesitantly stepped in. “Phantasia?”

“Leave me alone…” He slowly stepped towards her with his head lowered.

“You’ve been yelling for a while… I thought maybe you’d like it if I visited?”

She got up, stumbling and struggling to stand as she glared at him through eyes he wasn’t sure could even see anymore.

“I said get out of here Fiddlestick! Before you get hurt too!” She yelled at him.

“I’m not leaving you alone! The doctors might be scared but I’m not!” He stomped his hoof and stood his ground, flapping his singular wing in defiance.

She whimpered and attempted to step towards him, but tripped over her own foot and fell against him.

He caught her, holding her up and helping her sit before he felt a sharp sting in his hoof. He pulled out quickly and looked at it. A small, purple quill was stuck in his hoof and as he looked back at Phantasia, he quickly noticed she was covered in them. They seemed to be sprouting from her exposed flesh. His stomach dropped and he backed away from her in fear. She cried and begged him not to go, pleading for him to stay. The colt shook his head and ran out of the room, slamming the door and making sure it was locked before he ran to the bathroom.

In a panic, he plucked the quill and tossed it in the trash, washing his hoof in the sink over and over until his skin was raw and swollen. Panting, he pulled a first-aid kit from the cabinet. He wrapped his leg a bit haphazardly before letting out a sigh.

Deciding it was properly clean, he returned to his room. He couldn’t let anypony else know he snuck into the quarantine room or else he’d be in big trouble. It wasn’t that bad an issue anyway, at least not in his eyes.

Before he could fully shut the door, multiple ponies walked by in a rush, including Princess Twilight. He decided it was better not to snoop for once, and laid down in his bed. Meanwhile, the group of ponies gathered outside of Phantasia’s room.

“What do we think the diagnosis could be?” Twilight asked.

“Well… we aren’t sure. We’ve never seen this before!” Doctor Horse wiped sweat from his brow and cleared his throat. “She’s gotten worse so much faster than expected”

The group looked through the dense glass window on the door and Twilight gasped at the sight of all the needle-like quills protruding from the bloody filly. Zecora tried to look, but the princess pushed her away.

“You shouldn’t see this–”

“I must!” She stomped her hoof, cutting the alicorn off.

Twilight relented and allowed the zebra to look. She stared for a moment, watching what was the closest thing to family she had in Equestria, crying on the floor in pain.

Sinking to the floor, Zecora let out a shaky breath.

“What can be done for her?”

The doctor and nurses all looked at each other with somber expressions.

“The truth is Miss Zecora… we don’t know. There isn’t anything we can do safely since we have no idea what caused this–”

“Then what do we do?! Would you want to suffer if that happened to you?” Zecora pleaded.

She couldn’t just let her little girl go through so much pain. She wouldn’t allow it. There had to be something they could do.

“Look, it could be dangerous for someone to go in there. We don’t know if it’s contagious, but even if it isn’t, she’s too volatile to approach”

Twilight stepped closer to the doctor.

“What if we sedate her– from a distance. Keep her asleep with magic; Maybe then we can take samples of blood and those… quills” She shuddered at the mention of those things. Something about it made Twilight feel uneasy. The look of them was off in a way she couldn’t quite place. “I suppose that could work, but we’d have to get a hazmat crew in so we don’t risk it spreading to anypony else”

The princess nodded in agreement with the doctor. He turned to speak to the nurse, urging her to call for the crew. Twilight looked to Zecora, who was still looking at Phantasia through the glass.

“I know it’s hard Zecora, but we’ll figure something out. We can save her”

The zebra shook her head.

“The damage is too severe. She will not be able to leave here”

Twilight lowered her head, knowing it was most likely true. The injuries she sustained already would likely kill her if they did manage to cure her, but someone had to hold onto hope. The Hazmat crew came quickly. They brushed past the mares and the unicorn of the group produced a gas can before pulling the tab and throwing it in the room with the infected filly. Quickly, the gas knocked her unconscious and the crew entered with several heavy-duty, steel containers and tools. They extracted multiple blood samples and plucked a few quills from her skin, placing all of it in the various containers. Zecora couldn’t watch anymore; She turned and galloped down the hall, running into the bathroom and slamming the door shut. Looking at herself in the mirror, she tried to calm down– but it wasn’t working.

She began to sob. Her beautiful filly… what was nearly her daughter, was dying. The small family she’d created here in Equestria.