Equestria Girls of the Lost Cities (a KOTLC/EQG fanfic)

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Don't try to speak yet, Sophie," a familiar voice whispered as her eyes fluttered open.

She couldn't, even if she wanted to. Her throat chafed like sandpaper and her tongue felt like a foreign object. Her blurry eyes focused on the wild-haired head hovering over her.

"Nod if you can understand me," Elwin instructed.

She nodded, surprised by how much energy the simple movement took.

"That's the first good news today." He smiled, but it didn't erase the worry in his eyes as he held a small bottle against her lips. "I need you to swallow something for me."

Some of it dribbled across her chin, but she managed to get most of it down.

"That's a good girl." He wiped her face with a soft cloth and placed a cold compress against her forehead. "Just rest for now, okay?"

She nodded again, exhausted from the effort.

The warm liquid soothed her dry throat and sent cool, tingling sensations rushing through her body. After a few minutes she could swallow normally again. "What happened?"

"I'm not exactly sure. Dex said you told him it was an allergy. He thinks it might be the limbium in a solution he gave you, because you'd never had it before."

Her fuzzy memories focused. "Where is Dex?"

"I made him and Fitz wait outside till I had things under control. Things got a little too messy for spectators."

Fitz?

She vaguely remembered stronger arms carrying her to safety. Had that been Fitz? She was about to ask when she caught what Elwin said. "Messy?"

"Don't worry, I cleaned up all the vomit. But you need to change your shirt."

She bolted upright. "I threw up?"

"Everywhere. Never seen anything like it. It's always an adventure with you, isn't it? But don't worry, I don't mind—and neither did Fitz. It was only his PE uniform. And besides, your friends were puking like crazy too. And Twilight was the other day when she tried the elixir."

She threw up on Fitz?

"Oh no," she wailed, wondering if it was possible to die of embarrassment. She finally had enough energy to turn her head and saw Sunset and Rainbow Dash in their own cots, looking equally as weak. 

So this was what Twilight had warned them against. 

But how could all four of them have the same allergy?

"What's the matter? Are you in pain?"

"No," she moaned, trying to crawl under the blankets and disappear. She could smell the mess on her uniform now and she couldn't decide which was worse, knowing it was on her or knowing it was on Fitz, too. "Why? Why did this have to happen?"

"I don't know much about allergies. Never seen one before—and I can't say I'd like to see another. Bullhorn screamed his head off when you came in. Scared the wits out of me."

She cringed. "It was that close?"

He bit his lip. "Bullhorn's never done that before."

They both shivered.

"How did you know what to do?" she whispered.

"I didn't. I just took my best guess and hoped it would work. When Bullhorn left you alone, I knew I was on the right track."

"Well . . . thank you." The words felt trite, considering he'd saved her life. But what else could she say?

"Just don't ever do that to me again! I'm going to make up a bottle of what I gave you, and I want you to keep it with you in case you ever have another reaction—and stay away from limbium."

"I'll try."

He gave her one of his huge tunics and left her alone to change. Her soiled uniform went into an airtight bag to block the smell.

"You up for company?" Elwin asked when she finished. "Your friends won't leave until they see that you're okay."

She sank lower in her bed and nodded, wondering how to apologize to someone for vomiting on them.

"You guys can come in," Elwin called.

Dex rushed to her side, followed closely by Fitz and Twilight.

Dex's eyes were red and swollen. "I'm so sorry, Sophie. I had no idea you'd react like that. I thought it was only Twilight who was allergic. I'd never—"

"It's okay, Dex," she interrupted. "It wasn't your fault. And I'm fine now. See?" She held up her arm, showing him the blotch-free skin.

Dex let out a deep breath. "You're really okay?"

"Yeah. Just humiliated." She scraped together the courage to look at Fitz. He wore a fitted white undershirt, his PE tunic noticeably absent. "I'm so sorry, Fitz. I can't believe I—"

He held up his hands and smiled his dazzling smile. "Don't worry about it. It wasn't nearly as bad as the time Alvar's pet raptor peed all over me. Now that was disgusting."

She wanted to believe him, but she was fairly sure she'd always be the girl who threw up on him. It was hard to resist the urge to crawl under a rock and disappear for a decade or two. "Still. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be. I'm just glad you're okay and I was there to help."