Oh, Buck....

Iris blinked as cool water spilled over her head.
"Oh jeezus that water is freezing!" she shouted, shaking her head. "Ow...." she rubbed the back of her head, "who's been kicking my head?!"

She stood up, glaring at Calla, "sheesh, no need to hurt me, I'm sure a simple wake-up shake would have sufficed." she pouted and stuck her tongue out childishly at Calla.

"Anyways, this place is annoying me. I want to get out, so, lets go."

"Do you not remember what just happened?" Calla cried. "The Everfree is eve more dangerous than I thought. Let's go."

With that, the two mares headed off in the direction they thought was Ponyville.

Calls started stumbling even more than usual as they kept going. Her eyelids heavied, her breathing slowed, and finally, the mate tripped on a root and fell to the ground, completely unconscious.

Iris stooped to pick Calla up, the fact that she was unconscious barely registering in her mind. She simply laid Lily on her back and continued in the direction they had been heading. Her eyelids dropped as well, but she kept her eyes open.

Once Calla's weight was too much to bare, Iris slumped to the forest floor. She squirmed out from under the unicorn and pulled a water bottle out of her bag. Just as Calla had done with her, she dumped the liquid onto Lily's head.

"Come on, wake up." she whispered urgently.

Calla could not be woken. There was something seriously wrong with her, and it had little to do with the Everfree.

It hadn't happened enough since the Princesses took over Equeatria for any pony to recognize the signs. When the magical tube connecting a unicorn's horn to her brain is damaged, the gold blood that leaks from it is deadly. If it enters the bloodstream of a victim, it causes te body to shut down and try and drive the magic away. It was deadly only to unicorns, and especially those who used their magic often.

Calla struggled against the mist that blocked her from consciousness, but she was trapped. Trapped by her own body. Trapped by the forest. Trapped by herself.

Iris started to freak out, but she would never admit it. Retaining her calm demeanor, she whispered quietly, "Don't worry Calla, I'll get us out of here." Everything's going to be fine." The last part more for her than the passed out Calla.

Iris lifted Calla onto her back again, leaving her wings free. She carefully pulled herself into the air, checking to make sure Lily wasn't falling. She turned in the direction of the mist, then turned slowly to the opposite direction.

"I'll get us out of here."

There was a thick, membrane-like layer separating Calla from her eyes.

She was in a room. A mist-filled, dark room. She glanced about, trying to get her bearings and a way out.

Two figures stood in the center, beckoning to the mare with outstretched hooves.

"Come with us, Calla," the stallion said. Calla felt her heart pound as she realized it was her father, Snow Fall.

That wasn't right. Her father was dead. Her mother was as well, but Water Lily stood next to her husband, a mournful look in her eyes.

"Come home, my daughter," she pleaded.

Calla took a step forward.

"No, no no no. Not good! Come on Calla, wake up!" Iris muttered, flying as fast as she could without Calla falling off. She grew tired, her back started aching, and she could feel a cramp coming on in her wing.

She lowered herself, trying desperately to find a clearing. Luckily, she found one, and flew quickly towards it. She let her guard slip as she neared the area, and began to spin out of control because of it. She landed with a loud thump on the ground. Calla had fallen off her back from the impact, and Iris skidded away, slamming her into a tree and knocking her out cold.

Something registered in the corner of Calla's mind, halting her way towards her parents.

They were dead. What would happen if she followed? Nothing good, that was certain.

Turning her eyes downward, she blasted her parents to oblivion, tears trickling out of the corner of her eyes.

A dull pain issued from somewhere in Calla's body, but the mare couldn't feel anything at all. There was something seriously wrong with her, but the magic had clouded her thoughts, preventing the mare from realizing what was happening.

She felt pain in her flank, on her cutie marks on both sides, where it felt sharp pins were pulling at her skin. She pawed at the mark until it fell away, revealing a scroll of parchment and a red quill where the strange crest had been.

"Strange," she thought.

Iris blinked awake, her head pounding.

"Ow..." she whispered to herself, then she remembered where she was, and what was happening.

"Calla! Can you hear me?" she screamed, crawling to Calla's motionless body, "Calla!! Wake up!" she shook the blue mare despite the burning pain in her head.

From another pony's perspective, they could clearly see that the mare was struggling to stay alive. Her skin had paled, her breathing hitched in her throat, and the gold raw magic ran down her neck in trails.

She could not hear the outside world. She could feel it just barely. The only way to revive the mare would be to get her to a zebra or a doctor.

Iris felt a tear leak down the side of her face.

"Calla. Calla, please, come back." she whispered, her voice gone. With sudden urgency and strength, she put Calla on her back again and lifted herself into the sky. She dipped down a bit, the weight and her head injury making it hard to fly, but she steadied herself.

She flew awkwardly towards town, nearly falling out of the sky multiple times, but she kept herself in the air.

Her eyes drooped, but finally, she saw the beginnings of civilizations.

"We're almost home Calla."

(why are you doing this to me calla?!))

((To keep it interesting))

With a snap, Calla found a tear in the cloying fabric and gasped for breath, seeing the forest and breathing the air. She pawed at her head, holding the flesh wound closed while shutting off the flow of magical blood.

"Do you have any thread and a needle?" she shouted at Iris.

Iris nearly dropped out of the sky when she heard Calla speak, but caught herself at the last moment.

"Calla! You're awake!" she shouted through the wind, "No, I don't, but we're almost to town, see?"

(:p)

With effort, Calla reached down and plucked a hair off her head. She gritted her teeth and pulled one of Iris's sharp hairs, forming her own thread and needle. She sewed off the magical output with expert skill, preventing the wound from spilling out more of Calla's magic.

"Sorry!" she apologized to Iris.

"OW!" Iris said, rubbing the back of her head, "My head already hurts enough, must you do that?"

She continued grumbling as she neared the town, she touched down to the ground and collapsed out of exhaustion.

Calla tumbled off of Iris's back, too weak to pick herself off the ground.

"Little Flower!" Amina shouted, spotting her landmare sprawled on the dirt road. "Calla, are you okay?"

She galloped over to Calla, pulling the mare onto her back after examining her head.

"Let me fix zis," she instructed Iris. "Come wiz me, and I can help you as well, Flower."

She led the two back towards Calla's house, praying she could heal Calla in time.

Iris stood and shook her coat out. She turned and followed Amina.

"Uh, you know how to fix her?"

Amina's expression darkened.

"We are trained in all healing practices as we enter the court, in case ze Princess is harmed and we must heal her on the sbot. It happened once, where she was boisoned wiz an infusion of unicorn blood and hemlock, and I had to save her myself. Zis should be no different."

With that, Amina unlocked the door.

"Cloud!" she called. "Could you bring ze yellow saddle from my room?"

Cloud complied, flying the plain thing down from upstairs and standing back.

Amina began her work, giving Calla a sedative before undoing the stitches and reapplying them, pouring a small bottle of liquid from the yellow saddle into the wound before stitching that together as well.

"Zat will restore ze lost magic," she explained. "It was given to me by a traveler in ze court of Princess Amira. Cloud will take Calla up to bed while I help you."

Amina searched each seam on the yellow saddle until she found what she was looking for, an ice pack and another bottle.

Iris resisted, reaching to go with Calla and Cloud. But she sat still and waited for Amina to finish.

Iris hated accepting help from other ponies, especially strangers. She rarely showed weakness, preferring to hide any pain. But she allowed Amina to care for her.

((What happened to my post?))

Amina handed the bottle to Iris. The Pegasus was obviously struggling with the prospect of being helped, so she left this up to her.

"It'll keep you from getting nauseous while healing ze bruising in your brain," Amina explained. "A gift from a delegate from Zebrica. Zey are very good at potion making, are zey not?"

She trotted into the kitchen and poured Iris an iced tea, handing it to the Pegasus and watching her carefully.

"You may rest in my bed if you wish," Amina offered. "You can go home at nightfall. I'll take care of Calla from here. Do you know why she would risk her life by going so deeply into the Everfree Forest?"

((Whaddia mean?))

Iris accepted the bottle, sipping it lightly. Her head was starting to feel better already, and she grinned. She gratefully took the iced tea, drinking the cool liquid. She placed a hoof to her head and stared out the window before saying

"She was getting manticore venom for the hospital. I have no idea why they need it, but Calla went." she shrugged.

((I posted, but it disappeared))

Amina's face went white.

"Manticore venom?" she asked hesitantly. "It's only used for one thing; ponypox. If that's what the hospital needed, we may be in some huge trouble, Iris. Try not to get close to anypony for a while, save the mare in this house. Calla enchanted it a long time ago to keep out ponies with deadly illnesses, so we're all okay. Fly carefully, Flower."

(oh, haha! btw, I'm at my hotel!!!! It's awesome!!)

Iris nodded, "I will. Um, perhaps I could just stay here? I don't want to leave Calla. She's my best mare friend, if anything happened to her....." she trailed off quietly. Calla had always been there for her, and Iris was rarely there for her. She hoped to change that, and didn't want to leave the house. Plus, she did not want to get ponypox.

"Go ahead," Amina said quickly. "It's probably safer here, anyways. I'll go check on Calla now, so go ahead and make yourself at home. You may stay in my room if you please; I am used to sleeping on ze floor in any case. Ze beds are too soft for my likings. What would you like for supper?"

After waiting for Iris's answer, Amina headed upstairs to go examine Calla, and to make sure the unicorn was recovering well.

Iris nodded, "thanks. and as for dinner, I don't really care. I'm not super hungry anyways." She sighed and stared out the window again, mulling over the day. She waited for Amina to finish examining Calla, but got impatient and headed upstairs as well.

"How is she?" she asked