The group were all heading back to Ponyville, hoping to be able to finally find something that could help them.
"Remind me again exactly where we're going?" Applejack asked.
"To find the ones who are infected with the fever," Tails replied.
"And exactly who are we going to first?" The orange pony asked.
"It's either Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie. I actually don't know if Pinkie caught it, but you were there in the bakery back when you were still… sick…" Tails shuddered at the memory. Applejack didn't seem to notice it though. She was surprised to hear that cyan pegasus' name.
"Wait, Rainbow Dash caught the fever?"
Rarity joined in the conversation. "Yes. It's quite amusing to see her act all so feminine. She 'fell in love' with Sonic." She chuckled.
Applejack snickered. "Rainbow Dash? Falling in love with Sonic?" She couldn't help but laugh. "Isn't she already?! Oh boy, I can just imagine her acting like that and chasin' him!" She wiped the tears off her eyes. "Woo you guys gave me a good laugh, thanks." She chuckled.
As the group continued walking, Tails looked at Rarity. He was concerned for her, especially after what happened earlier. "Hey Rarity, you okay?"
Rarity made eye contact with Tails and said, "Why of course darling, why'd you ask?"
"I mean you just fainted awhile ago, you sure nothing's wrong?"
Rarity took her eyes off the fox and just looked at the path in front on her. "O-oh, it's probably just the stress from all this… we've had a lot of adventures from before, but not quite like this."
"Alright, if you ever feel tired, then just tell us okay?" Wait, she already told me that before…
"Sure. Thank you Tails." Maybe I was just overthinking things before. No, that's not it. It's that evil virus! It tried to manipulate my mind! But no more! That adorable fox is my friend and I will help him no matter what! I shall not give in to that ridiculous fever! Don't worry Sweetie Belle, we'll find the cure! She started galloping, which surprised the group.
"R-Rarity?" They all started chasing after her.
Rarity looked back and said with a smile, "You want this to be over soon, right? So what are we waiting for?"
They all shared the same determination and smiled.
"Now where can we find Rainbow Dash?" Tails asked. After some time, they finally arrived in the middle of the town.
"She's most likely still chasing Sonic around. So she can't be back in Cloudsdale," Twilight said.
When Tails turned around he saw someone coming at him. They were running rather fast. He squinted his eyes. "Wait, who's-" His eyes widened as he realized who it was. Oh no!
Rarity also felt nervous about this.
"Hi Tails!" This certain pony tackled Tails to the ground.
"Applebloom? What are you doing?" Applejack asked, a little concerned that she was running by herself. She was about to pull her away from Tails, but he was quick to get up and pushed her away instead. This surprised her. "Tails what are you-"
Tails whispered near her ear, "Be careful, she might be sick! This sickness is as contagious as catching a cold!"
Applejack had her mouth agape, then nodded, quickly understanding the situation.
"H-hey Applebloom." Tails smiled nervously. He certainly didn't want to encounter the same situation like with Sweetie Belle. "W-why'd you tackle me?"
"Sorry about that, I was runnin' too fast."
"Applebloom, what do you think of me?" Tails asked out of nowhere. He was already getting tired of running away. He was technically immune to the fever anyway.
Applebloom was confused and surprised by this. "Well, you're pretty strange the first time I've seen ya, I mean it's the first time I've seen a talking fox who also walks on two legs." She grinned. "But, you're really cute!"
That compliment didn't even make Tails blush anymore. He was getting used to it, but not in a really good way, for obvious reasons. He did the usual staring to confirm.
The filly however didn't have any signs of sudden change in behavior, making the fox slightly relieved. "You don't have it…" He chuckled.
Applebloom raised her brow. "Have what?"
Tails went closer and said, "Okay, have you seen Rainbow Dash?"
Applebloom nodded.
"Do you notice anything different about her lately?"
The filly pondered about it for a moment, then finally responded, "Well she has been flyin' a lot more often lately, and she keeps shouting this name. Maybe she's looking for somethin'."
"Is the name she keeps saying… Sonic?"
"Ah guess so… it does kinda sound like that."
The fox decided to tell her. "Applebloom, the reason why Dashie is like that is because she's sick. She caught the Evol fever."
Applebloom was confused. "Evol fever? Well that sounds pretty weird." But the fact that it was a fever, as she heard, made her a little scared. "W-what happens if you get it?"
"As ridiculous as it might sound, the victim gets to 'fall in love' with the first one they see of the opposite gender." Tails muttered, "Now that I think about it, I don't think they're the actual victims."
Rarity nervously said, "A-Applebloom, please don't go near Sweetie Belle."
"W-why? I was with her earlier."
Rarity didn't seem surprised by what she said, neither did Tails, because he knew she wasn't sick. "Sweetie Belle… caught the fever."
Applebloom gasped, suddenly remembering. "So that's why she kept asking me about Tails!"
Twilight said, "Sweetie Belle didn't ask you to help her find him?"
Applebloom shook her head. "No. She said she was gonna find him herself and didn't need any help. But looks like I found him first." She chuckled.
Twilight assumed, "This fever must affect the victim in a way that only she gets the one she's 'hunting down' all for herself."
This made Tails shudder. "Uhh Twilight, w-what kind of assumption is that?"
Twilight faced the fox, and saw the frightened look on his face. She frowned, feeling guilty for scaring him. "S-sorry Tails, I didn't mean to scare you. And like what you said, it was just an assumption, so it may not be true at all."
Tails sighed. "Y-yeah…"
Applebloom asked, "Uhh… is there some sort of cure for this fever?"
Applejack said, "That's what we're tryin' to look for. And Tails here thinks Dashie's got it, that's why we're findin' her."
"Is it because Dashie's sick that she might know what the cure is?"
Tails nodded. "From what we've read from the book that has info about it, those who caught the fever may prevent others from curing them. So it's very possible that Dashie knows where the cure is, we'll just have to force her to tell us if the worst happens."
Fluttershy said nervously, "Uhh guys, I think there's someone pretty fast heading towards us."
They all looked to the right, and there they saw Sonic running, just like Fluttershy mentioned.
Tails was a little relieved, knowing this was a sign that Rainbow Dash was nearby. He had to stop Sonic for now though. "Sonic! Stop!"
Sonic followed and stopped near Tails. "Hey buddy." He saw the other ponies the fox had brought with him. "Hey guys, what's up?"
Tails asked, "Sonic, where's Rainbow Dash?"
Just as Sonic was about to reply, the cyan Pegasus shouted, "Sonic!" She looked very happy.
Sonic held Tails's shoulders. "Listen Tails, that girl has been following me for many days now. Have you found the cure yet?" Sweat formed on his forehead as he asked, and his eyes shrunk, desperate for an answer.
Tails shook his head slowly. "Sorry Sonic, Rainbow Dash is our only lead for now. We have to catch her."
"That Pegasus is full of evil surprises! I didn't expect her to be the Amy of this world!"
Tails held Sonic's cheeks. "Sonic, you have to get it together! You have to stay put, let her catch you or something. We need to ask her some things."
"No buddy, you don't understand! She's gonna kill me with those hugs of h-" Before he even finished, Rainbow Dash already tackled him to the ground.
"Hi Sonikku! I missed you so much!" She hugged him and nuzzled her cheeks with his.
"B-but it's been only a day…" He was having trouble breathing thanks to Dashie's tight hugs.
Applejack snickered. Sonikku? She even has a nickname for him already!
Seems like Sonic wasn't joking when he said those hugs will kill him… Twilight thought. Man, does this fever give you super strength too? And I thought it was only about liking someone all of a sudden…
Fluttershy smiled. Hmm, how about… Tailsikku? How does that sound? She blushed after realizing what she just thought of.
Is this how Sweetie Belle treated Tails? Applebloom wondered. "Uhh I'll just be going now. I also gotta ask a certain someone about something." Maybe she knows something about the cure...
"Alright Applebloom, be careful!" Applejack said as she and the group waved her goodbye.
Sonic raised his hand dramatically towards Tails, as if it was a life or death situation (it probably is), hoping to save him from this misery.
Tails cleared his throat. "H-hi Dashie, can you let go of Sonic please?"
Rainbow Dash said, "But he always runs away when I do that!"
"Actually, Sonic told me that he promised to not run away again if that happens, right Sonic?" He glared at the hedgehog.
"Y-yeah… he's right…"
"Really? Okay then!" She released her tight hug, letting Sonic finally breathe normally. But she still remained close to Sonic, so close that he was still uncomfortable. She also didn't let go of him, still holding his arm with a sweet smile on her face.
Sonic looked annoyed, and sighed. "Look, I'm really not going anywhere this time…" He knew she wouldn't believe that, so he had no other choice. He looked at her in the eyes and said, "I promise you Rainbow Dash, alright?" He showed his "sweetest" smile yet.
Rainbow Dash blushed and grinned nervously. "O-Okay, i-if you say so Sonic…" H-H-HE'S SO COOL! She was basically screaming like a fangirl inside, and tried her best to hold everything in.
"Dashie, is it alright if we ask you something?" Tails asked. He felt tense because the Pegasus really looked unstable, like she was about to explode.
She heard the fox's voice, making her snap out of her thoughts and stop daydreaming about the blue hedgehog. "Okay, what is it?" She smiled.
Tails suddenly remembered something about a symptom of the fever, stopping him from bringing out the book. "Uhh, just a second okay?" He chuckled. He went back to his traveling group and huddled. Tails whispered, "Don't bring out the book just yet. Remember what I said earlier about them being against the cure? She might break it." They broke the huddle, and Tails approached Rainbow.
"H-have you seen a portion of a page anywhere? I'm looking for it and I really need it for uhh… research… yeah…" He smiled nervously.
Rainbow felt something in her chest. She knew what he was talking about. She had to stop them from finding it. "I… haven't seen anything like that… sorry…" She hung her head and smirked mischievously.
"Oh… okay…" Tails felt defeated. She was the closest lead they can get to finding the solution to this epidemic, yet it was all lost now. "…thanks anyway Dashie. I guess we'll look somewhere else." He sighed. As he was about to turn around, Rainbow stopped him.
"Actually, I might be able to help you guys."
This caught the fox's interest. There was still hope.
"But only you can hear it, nobody else. Got it?" Tails nodded and looked serious. Rainbow noticed the bag Fluttershy was carrying. "Uhh actually, the others need to hear it too, I mean so you don't have to explain it to them anymore, you know?" She smiled without any hint of suspicion from the fox's eyes. The fever definitely boosted one's acting skills.
"Alright!" Tails exclaimed, and signaled the others to come closer.
Rainbow smirked. She had a confident feeling that book was inside there. This is her chance. Hehe. Might as well destroy it too…