Pinkie Pie was lying on her stomach in her bed at home, oblivious to the world. Mage Meadowbrook put her ancient old hoof on Pinkie's head, and tut-tutted. "Very hot, very hot," she muttered to herself, "an' sweaty." She took out a stethoscope and listened to Pinkie's heart, and tut-tutted some more.

Matthias and Twilight stood by Pinkie's bed. "What's wrong with her?" Matthias asked.

"Hold yer horses, young un. That's what Ah'm a-tryin' to figger out." Meadowbrook ran her hoof along the back of Pinkie's leg until she came to a strange scar. "Now this here looks like an adder bite. Has she met any adders recently?"

Matthias and Twilight exchanged a guilty look. "We did meet an adder, named Asmodeus," Twilight said. "And he did bite Pinkie. But that was months ago, and she was fine then."

Meadowbrook nodded. "They always seem fine at the start. Nothin' happens until a couple o' mouths later. She's showin' all the classic symptoms. Fever… runny nose… episodes o' madness…"

Twilight's stomach was now as cold as ice, but she tried to sound cheerful. "And how do we get her better?"

"We-ell," Meadowbrook croaked, "that's the tricky part. The sting of an adder is always pretty much fatal."

"This is all my fault!" Matthias cried. "I shouldn't have let her come with me to fight Asmodeus!"

Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder. "You didn't force her to come. She wanted to help you. We all did."

"The good news is," continued Meadowbrook, "We have until ten in the mornin' tomorrow to find the antidote afore yer friend dies."

"Oh good," said Twilight, hugely relieved. "So, there is an antidote."

"When Ah was young, mah grandmare used to say the only cure fer adder venom was the Flowers of Icetor, boiled in fresh spring water. Flowers of Icetor from the mountains of the far north, beyond Yakyakistan. Now Ah recalls her words, she always said they could cure most anythin', even Dry Ditch Fever."

"Beyond Yakyakistan," Twilight repeated. "I don't know anypony who's been farther north than Yakyakistan. It's a hard and hostile region we know little about."

"But we've got to give it a try," Matthias said. "Mountain's in the north, flowers are on the mountain- what more does a beast need t'know? I'll go this very day, see if I don't."

"I'm up for it if you are," Twilight said. "If we travel in my hot air balloon, we can reach the mountains by nightfall."