Monday, January 25, 2016

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): It's cold and flu season. Don't take any chances with your health.

Early Morning

It rained all night. It's still raining this morning.

I'm just getting up when Twilight walks in, bedheaded and in her pajamas. "Wow, it's...really coming down out there," she says.

"Yeah..." I turn on the TV and change over to the weather news channel. After a few minutes, the local weather information comes on.

The forecast for the rest of the week shows rain, rain, and more rain, with temps in the forties all week.

"Ugh," Twilight says. "Do you want the shower first, or—?"

"I showered last night. You go on ahead."

After School

After school, I head straight back to the dorm. It's still raining...

I'm chilled to the bone when I get back to the dorm. Once I shed my rain gear, I head to the kitchen to heat up some tomato soup. I decide to heat up enough for everybody to have some when they get in.

I'm sitting in the lounge drinking a cup of soup when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walk in. They look miserable. At first I think it's because of the weather...but then I notice Apple Bloom's been crying.

"Apple Bloom? What's wrong?"

Apple Bloom sniffles. Sweetie Belle pats her shoulder. The two girls shuck their rain slickers and galoshes, then sit down in the lounge.

I get up and get each of them a cup of hot soup. "What's wrong?" I ask again.

Sweetie Belle sighs. "It's just...these two girls at school," she says.

I frown. "The same two you told me about last week?" I ask Apple Bloom.

She nods. "Yeah. Diamond Tiara found out about...about mah mom bein' gone, an'..."

Oh my God. "That's dirty. That's...that's just..."

Sweetie Belle rolls her eyes. "Yeah. Diamond Tiara was all 'Hey Apple Bloom, don't worry. Once you're an orphan, I'm sure Daddy will hire you to clean my personal toilet.' And then that little four-eyed freak she hangs out with started laughing her head off like it was the funniest thing in the world."

"You need to tell someone about that," I say.

Apple Bloom snorts. "Yeah, right. Tattlin'll just make it worse."

"It really will," Sweetie Belle says miserably. She takes a sip of her soup. "Hey, this is good."

"It's just canned soup," I say. "Apple Bloom, you should drink some too."

Apple Bloom drinks her soup. "Ah'm...Ah'm gonnna go lie down," she says. "Ah don't feel none too good..." She gets up and heads for the second floor.

"Umm...I guess I should go do my homework," Sweetie Belle says glumly. "Thanks for the soup." She finishes her soup, then heads upstairs.

The others all walk in a few minutes later. "Flash?" Twilight asks. "Why didn't you wait to ride home with Cadance with the rest of us?"

...

That's right...Cadance said she'd drive everybody home so we wouldn't have to walk in this rain...

"I derped," I say with a shrug. "There's hot tomato soup in the kitchen."

As everyone helps themselves to soup, I pull Applejack aside. "Your sister's being bullied at school," I tell her. "I think she's keeping it from you because you've already got enough to worry about, but...you really need to know."

Applejack frowns. "Thanks fer tellin' me," she says. "Ah'll have a talk with 'er."

Evening

While Pinkie Pie is making dinner, the rest of us, except for Applejack, are in the lounge watching television and doing our homework. Applejack suddenly bolts downstairs and runs over to the apartment. A minute later, she rushes past again with Cadance in tow.

We all look at one another.

Five minutes later, Cadance and Applejack come back downstairs. Applejack heads for the kitchen, while Cadance joins us in the lounge. "Sweetie Belle, you need to stay with Rarity in her room for a while," she says. "Apple Bloom has a fever. I may need to call my dad out to look at her tomorrow."

"Oh no," Fluttershy says softly.

"Will she be alright?" Sweetie Belle asks.

"I'm sure it's nothing too serious, but I'd probably better pass out some Bannaflu for everyone at dinner just to be safe." Cadance sighs. "Bet I'll run out of that this week..."

Thunder booms long and loud. "Whoa," Rainbow says, eyes wide.

When Pinkie has dinner ready, everyone except Apple Bloom gathers in the dining room. Twilight frowns. "Isn't Principal Celestia supposed to be here?"

"She won't be staying at the dorm this week," Cadance says as she passes out Bannaflu. "She and Luna both have things to take care of."

Throughout dinner, the lights flicker from time to time, even going out entirely for a few seconds at one point. It's such a rainy, miserable evening that nobody really feels like doing anything after dinner, so most of us go to bed early. Twilight changes into her pajamas and snuggles up with me in my bed, and we listen to the rain and the thunder until we're both nice and sleepy.