Allergies at the Nursery

[Becka *Pone*]

Karma didn't know much of medicine, but of what she did know, she knew that in general, very young children did not get allergies. She also knew that very young children were prone to small colds, however, so when most of the nursery came down with what appeared to be either a cold or allergies, there wasn't much to do except keep them in bed, feed them plenty of fluids, and tweak their auras appropriately to help ease their misery. The building was full of coughing, sneezing, snuffy-nosed children with the exception of Sherbet Explosion, who seemed to be fighting off the infection rather well. Maybe that new kid's "fortune teller" had been right, and Sherbet would be a healer one day.

In any case, Karma was using the only very healthy kid to her advantage, making her watch the pots of soup so they wouldn't boil over, sending her on errands to get more ingredients, having her entertain the other children with stories and hoof-puppets and games that required little movement or energy. They'd already ruined three packs of cards playing Go Fish with snotty noses.

And no one seemed to be getting any better. In fact, everyone seemed to only be getting worse! And the aura-manipulating earther was feeling the effects of running herself down - a sneeze here, a sniffle there, and the occasional purple or green spot flaring up in her aura like a local infection. She could take care of them, but not for long. If she became sick herself it would just be Sherbet running the nursery, and as good of a job as she was doing being Karma's little helper, she was still only seven and about as accident prone as they came.

As a new sick-day dawned, Karma was in the kitchen where she seemed to live as of late, cooking up some runny oatmeal and tea.

"Goodmorning," Sherbet dragged herself into the room. She obviously hadn't slept well, being surrounded by noisy, sick foals, but wasn't showing any signs of sickness yet in her aura.

"How are you feeling?" Karma asked redundantly, already knowing very well how the foal was doing.

"Tired," she admitted, "but I don't feel sick yet." The little orange foal gave a brief smile and sat down at the table, putting her head on her forlegs to rest.

"Well, breakfast will be ready in a minute," Karma replied and checked on the oatmeal. "We can eat first and then we will feed the others."

Sherbet only nodded with her head down.

[Angel624]

The purple-haired baby pony was in bed, feeling sick as ever. She thought about her mother, wondering what happened to her. Well, she knew her mother was sick, but when her mother died, she had no idea where she went after that. After all, Baby Sea Spray was only a baby pony. She didn't know much of anything yet. And already, her mother had left her. The foal wasn't sure if her mother would come back or not. She hoped she would. Everyday, Baby Sea Spray thought that her mother might be back the next day. But as time went by, her mother never showed up. Baby Sea Spray was starting to wonder, if she'd ever come back. It almost made her cry, the thought of never seeing her mother again. She just layed there, wondering......

[Becka *Pone*]

The two healthy ponies ate in silence once the breakfast was ready, and Sherbet was allowed to have juice instead of "icky tea", even if Karma thought the latter would be better for her. They cleaned up their own dishes, and then it was time to start the daily chores, which included washing all the bedding, feeding all the sick foals (and Swirl, who still demanded that she be allowed to help as much as possible, even though she wasn't feeling well), cleaning the dishes throughout the day (because there was always something cooking), and washing the snot off everyone's noses. That didn't include the ponies who came to the nursery looking for help - many of them weren't aware that the Champions had been called off to Dream Valley and were hoping that the resident healer would be in.

"Breakfast," Sherbet called softly to the foals who were either sleeping or laying in bed silently in the main room. She carried a tray on her back, walking very carefully so she wouldn't upset it, and helped those ponies who woke up to get bowls and teacups filled with nourishment. Baby Sea Spray had been sick the longest, and had lost her mother (something Sherbet understood as being a problem she once had, but had not dwelled over), so Sherbet gave her an extra big smile as she set down the tray to get the foals breakfast.

"Feeling any better today?" the orange filly asked hopefully. If Sea Spray was the first one to get sick, it reasoned that she would be the first one to get better in Sherbet's mind. And once she got better, then the rest of the foals would get better and Sherbet could get some sleep.

[Angel624]

The baby pony sighed as she turned over, laying on her side. She was still thinking about her family. She had never known her father. Just her mother......which made Baby Sea Spray sad. As she hoped her father was alright. She wondered if she even had a father. She didn't know if she did or not......

She turned to the orange pony and shook her head. "Not really." She said, sniffling.

[Becka *Pone*]

Sherbet nodded; it was the same answer she'd been getting from all the young ponies for the past few days. No one felt better. Not when they had tea, or soup, or anything. These foals were just getting sicker and sicker, and it scared the young filly. But not nearly as much as it scared Karma.

The dark mare was in the kitchen, waiting for the next batch of water to boil for tea and oatmeal, when she decided to call someone to help. And the only pony she knew to call was her foster mother, Bella. Kail's mother agreed to come right away, and promised to be there by nightfall, sans husband and Canto. They would have to look out for themselves for a while.

[Angel624]

The baby pony rested in her bed. Feeling scared and alone, but peaceful at the same time. She missed her mother. And she also wanted to know if she had a father or not. She faintly remembered her mom talking about whether she had one or not. All Baby Sea Spray could remember right now is her mother's death...

She felt rested, though. She'd had a nice long nap earlier. She wondered if the other baby ponies that were sick got it from her. She also wondered what she had. She wasn't quite sure, as she was just a baby pony. She wondered if her mother had the same sickness. Or if her mother's sickness was what had killed her....