MLP: Ground Zero

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.

"Zecora!"

The zebra jerked, dropping the ladle she was stirring her pot with as the loud voice of her apprentice filled the once quiet hut. She turned with a stern expression to face the young filly.

"Phantasia, there are less loud ways to tell me you are back. You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

The unicorn giggled lightly as she tapped her hoof against the ground.

"Sorry-- Oh! I brought something for you!" She spoke as she sat down and dug through her saddlebag.

Despite emptying it almost entirely, and shoving her head in the bag, she didn't seem to find what she was after.

"Or... I don't?" She smacked her hoof to her face in realization. "I forgot to bring it back, augh!"

Picking up the ladle and placing it on the table beside her, Zecora moved closer to Phantasia and tried to get her thoughts back on track.

"Settle down and tell me what thing you had meant to bring"

Shaking her head, the filly stood and started putting the important things back in her bag using her magic as she spoke.

"I found something awful in the forest! Something killed a bunny-- it had a bunch of weird purple spines in it. I tried to bring one back for you so maybe you could ID it, but I must've dropped it"

The zebra tapped her chin with her hoof and looked over her young protégé. She'd admit, the description sounds familiar, but with the location being the Everfree Forest, it could really be anything. There are lot's of creatures inside the forest that are unique and more magical than others outside of Equestria.

"Sounds to me like a porcupine, though purple spines I have not heard in my times"

She motions to the bandage around Phantasia's leg.

"Did you hurt yourself, little one? The patch up seems well-done"

Looking back at her own limb, the filly lightly stomps it and nods.

"I took care of it like you taught me, don't worry!"

Zecora nodded in satisfaction, trusting her little apprentice's words and returned to her pot of bubblin' brew. Phantasia didn't ask what it was, she was feeling worn out after walking around the forest all day. Instead, she simply put away the ingredients she foraged and retired back to her bed.

Placing her empty bag on a hook by the door, she stretched before hopping up onto her bed and slipping under the blankets. A quick nap before dinner sounded good to her.

~

As she fell asleep, she started to dream of a small, black rabbit. Cute and round with soft, floppy ears that flapped behind it as it jumped. It looked at her as if asking her to follow.

It led her to a long mahogany table with many empty plates scattered around it and a lone, giant teapot. Strange, it felt familiar somehow.

The rabbit hopped into a chair and pointed to the empty one across from it.

She obeyed the silent request and sat down. The black bunny poured the large teapot; a magenta liquid flowed out to fill a teacup in front of her.

As she looked into the glittering tea, she could swear her reflection looked distorted and discoloured. It just looked wrong. It looked afraid.

"What's up with this tea?" She asked, but when she looked up the rabbit was gone.

Glancing back to the tea, she noticed it start to bubble and form spikes as if it was a solid. With a yelp, she smacked it away, spilling it into the grass.

~

She startled awake, holding herself up on her front legs and looking around. Phantasia shook her head to forget about the weird dream. How long had she slept for, she wondered. It was darker in the room now. She got out of bed and made her way over to the window to check the sky.

It was nearly dawn! Had she really slept that long? She only meant to sleep for a few minutes, but ended up sleeping hours! Why didn't Zecora wake her?

Emerging from her room, she trotted down the steps into the main room. Her head throbbed, likely from over-sleeping. The young filly poured herself a glass of water and quietly sipped it, debating if she should wait for her mentor to wake up or not.

She rubbed her temple with her hoof before laying her head down on the table for a few minutes until the headache subsided.

"Phantasia?"

Zecora's voice caused her ears to perk up. Lifting her head, she noticed it was lighter outside. Had she fallen asleep again? She sniffed.

"You look quite unwell" The zebra spoke as she placed her hoof on her pupils forehead. A fever, as suspected.

"What? How could I get sick?" She thought for a second. "Do you have anything for this?"

Zecora chuckled and shook her head.

"There is no cure for the common cold, or so I have been told. Go back to bed and I will bring you some soup instead"

Grumbling, the unicorn accepted that she was sick and returned to her room as instructed. A short time later, Zecora brought the soup as promised and left her to rest.

Hours passed before the filly came down again and when Zecora saw her, she gasped. Phantasia was pale, her colours dulled. She was sniffing and coughing and had deep, dark circles under her eyes. She somehow was worse than before.

"I do not think this is a cold anymore"

The older pony quickly grabbed her cloak and bag, urging the teen to follow her.

"I will take you to Ponyville. I do not have a cure, but perhaps they will"

The two made their way to the Ponyville hospital; Phantasia coughing and wheezing every now and again. Luckily, it was a quick journey and the doctors were fast to check her in. Zecora informed the nurse of everything she knew up until this point while she took the typical tests. Temperature was high, blood pressure was low and heart rate normal. Strange.

The nurse quickly made some notes and left the two alone while she went to inform the doctor.

"Do you think I can get a lollipop when we're done?" Phantasia joked, earning a soft smile from her mentor.

It was only a few moments before the doctor arrived.

"Zecora! It's been a minute since I've seen you here" He spoke as he entered the room.

A kind, orange unicorn stallion who Zecora has met plenty of times in the past. The two have a bit of history together as she would bring by tonics and natural herbs to help patients every now and again. She nodded a greeting to him as he approached the table to examine the filly.

"Well, what do we have here? Is this your daughter?" He asked, gaining a squint from the purple unicorn.

Zecora cleared her throat before responding. "No. My apprentice"

"Oh... well, Phantasia is it? Nurse Redheart showed me your chart and I must say I'm a bit perplexed. You said she was fine yesterday?"

The zebra nodded in confirmation, which just made the doctor more confused.

"It doesn't seem like your typical seasonal illness that goes around this time of year..." He scratched his head as he looked over her chart again before glancing at her leg.

It was still bandaged, but the linen was slightly discoloured.

"Do you mind if I take a look at your leg?"

Phantasia hesitated, but eventually agreed and lifted her leg up onto the table. Unraveling the bandage revealed that her leg was discoloured and swollen. A small lesion on the bottom of her hoof. Both adults grimaced at the injury. The filly looked away ashamed.

"I’ve seen people lose limbs due to infected wounds, why was this not treated?"

She whimpered at the thought of losing her leg and mumbled something about forgetting to and Zecora shook her head in disappointment. The doctor didn't ask anything more and simply cleaned and redressed the wound.

"Now that we know it's most likely just an infection, I'd like to keep her here for a few days to make sure it doesn't get any worse" He spoke directly to Zecora, who agreed almost instantly.

"I will stay with Twilight while you are kept under the doctors sight" She ruffled Phantasia's mane before bidding the doctor and her farewell.

The walk to the Princess of Friendships castle was a bit more taxing than usual. Zecora's mind was busy filling with worry for her pupil. She'd only taken her in a few years ago after finding her in the forest alone. She never thought something like this would happen to her. Hopefully amputation would not be needed.

As she approached the crystal tree, she noticed the alicorn was already outside repairing the door.

"What has happened to your door?" She glanced down. "Or more importantly, your floor"

Twilight glanced between the zebra and the large scratches and crack in the crystalline tile. She laughed nervously.

"Don’t worry about that– one of Fluttershy's bears got startled and broke down the door"

She finished her repairs as she spoke to the zebra.

"Anyway, what brings you to Ponyville?"

"My young pupil is not doing so well, I'm afraid" Zecora's smile dropped to a worried expression, causing the princess to go wide eyed.

"Phantasia? What's wrong? Is she sick?"

"She is in the hospitals care, which is why I came to ask you if you had room to spare"

Twilight lightly flapped her wings and pushed up her glasses with her hoof. She always enjoyed Zecora's visits, no matter the reasoning. Besides, the castle had plenty of room inside.

"Of course, you can stay as long as you need! It’s always a pleasure to have you visit the castle and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be far away from Phantasia"

She guided Zecora inside with one wing over the zebra's back.

"Thank you Twilight for being so kind. Your welcoming gives me peace of mind."

The next day, the doctor was examining Phantasia since she appeared to have gotten worse. Her eyes were bloodshot and nose runny.

"It seems we'll have to start you on some medications, as I thought" The doctor spoke as he passed a clipboard to the nurse.

The little filly whimpered and tapped her front hoof on the bed. "W-where's Zecora?" she asked.

"I'm sure she'll be here soon, don't worry"

His words didn't do much to comfort the small unicorn as he placed an IV into her front leg. He mentioned something about getting a sucker if she behaves before he left the room to tend to other patients.

She rubbed her nose and rolled her eyes. Stupid doctor, she's not a toddler.

Her eyes wandered around the room; reading every poster, bottle and box she could find. Celestia she was bored...

A small knock made her ears perk up as the door opened and a small, green pegasi with multicolored hair slipped in. He couldn't be much older than her.

"Hey, thought you could use some entertainment"

"And who are you? The hospital clown?" She sounded a little meaner than she meant to.

"Aha..." the colt wilted a bit and tapped his hoof against the ground. "My names Fiddlestick"

He stepped a little closer and placed a book on the bed next to her. Some sort of fantasy novel about a peacock king judging by the cover. She felt bad.

"Sorry" she smiled meekly. "I'm Phantasia"

Fiddlestick perked back up and smiled with a small flap of his wing, which now that she looked, she noticed he only had one of.

"Whoa, what happened to you?"

He glanced back at his own body before shrugging.

"Flying accident"

"You seem oddly chill about losing an entire wing"

He hopped up onto her bed and sat next to her.

"I... wasn't very good at flying anyway. I broke it enough times that it didn't really work anymore anyway, so being literally grounded isn't that bad"

Part of her didn't believe him, but he seemed happy enough, so she couldn't really argue. Still, it was a bummer to lose something you were born with-- if she lost her magic she didn't know what she'd do.

"So, what are you in here for? You break your leg?"

"Ah, no. I stepped on a bramble and forgot to clean it, so it got infected infected"

He blinked.

"Is it contagious?"

She stared deadpan at him.

"It's an infected wound, not the flu"

It was a beautiful day in Equestria.

Clear skies above and a cool, gentle breeze blowing though the Everfree Forest. It was the perfect time to be outside for any young pony.

The leaves on trees and bushes swayed as a young purple unicorn stepped into a small clearing to observe a delicate flower blooming alone in the grass. Orange petals sprouting from a dark teal stem with a few oval-shaped leaves. The smell of it was subtle, almost cinnamon-like.

Using her magic, she plucked the blossom and placed it in her saddlebag. Surely it'd come in handy later while brewing potions, she thought.

As she closed her bag, rustling sounds coming from a bush behind caught her attention. Cautiously, she crouched and approached the shrub. A small, white puffy tail was sticking out from the bottom of the leaves.

"Oh? Is that a funny little bunny I see--"

Her words were cut off as she moved away the leaves, expecting the sight of a cute rabbit, but instead was met with the mangled remains of one.

It's body was twisted unnaturally where it laid, mouth open at an unsettling angle and eyes sunken in. The dirt and grass below it was soaked with blood, bile and other fluids. Patches of its fur and skin had sloughed off to expose the flesh underneath and it's spine was exposed. One of it's arms was completely missing, the bit that remained was a gnarled mess of torn skin with little bone remaining.

The areas of exposed muscle were full of purple thorn-like quills with a pink gradient towards the tip. The same quills littered the ground around the body.

The unicorn gasped and flinched back with her ears pinned.

"What happened to you... poor thing..." She mumbled to herself as she hung her head with a somber expression. Her eyes trailed to the quills surrounding the poor rabbit.

She picked up a single quill using her magic and held it a few inches from her face with a curious hum.

"Maybe Zecora would know what did this" Her cheery demeaner returned quickly as she backed up away from the bush, still looking at the quill.

"On the bright side, it could be a new species or someth-- AH!"

She suddenly jolted as she felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her hoof, causing her to accidently fling the quill from her magic grasp. Lowering her head and holding the pained hoof a little off the ground, she groaned to herself with a soft 'ow'.

On the forest floor by her feet sat thorny branches, the likely culprit.

"Ugh, Seriously? I need to be more careful..." The young unicorn berated herself as she used her magic to pull a linen bandage from her bag and wrap it around the injured leg.

Deciding it was probably better to head home than stay out now, she turned and made her way out of the forest while mumbling to herself.

"Stupid brambles"

OOC:

Howdy everypony! been a hot minute -- sorry this has taken so long, a lot of stuff has gotten in the way, but I'm back to working on this after a hiatus <3

While doing the art like this and the Berry Punch photo, I plan to keep writing the actual fic (posted on ao3 + here), as well as trying to dip my toes into comics

also, as per usual with my pony art, the art style is changing again as well as the layout! I have a new art program compared to all the past posts, so this should go by much smoother--

aaand now I give a lil more info OOC <3

Like stated above, she has Chimerism; which can affect horses too, but not as extreme as some other animals (aka the complete split). If you look closer, you'll also notice Rarity has two dif eye colours too.

The most popular example is Venus the cat

But heres it on some other animals, including a lobster!