“Hey, Ivan, can I have a ride?” Sweetie Belle asked one day while Ivan was working the orchard.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Sick.” Ivan replied. And when Sweetie Belle took another look at Ivan, she agreed. He was rather pale, and sweating… he was also moving sluggishly.

“Then why are ya workin’?” Applebloom asked. “Sis’d understand if ya needed a rest…”

“No pay.”

“So yer just gonna work through it?”

“Yes.”

“Mommy told me that if I don’t tell her when I’m sick, she can’t help me get better.” Dinky said in a way that Ivan suspected was scolding.

“…tell who?” Ivan offered, hoping to derail the little unicorn’s train of thought. He didn’t like the attempted guilt. He liked it less that it was working somehow.

“…where’s your mom?” Ivan stopped to think a moment.

“… Fillydelphia.”

“Really?” Ivan nodded.

“…your dad?”

“With mom.”

“…Hey, who should he tell?” Dinky asked, turning to the other three crusaders.

“Beats me.” Scootaloo said flippantly. “If it were actually serious, he probably would’ve told somebody already.”

“Maybe Ah should tell Applejack?” Applebloom suggested. “If yer sick, workin’ through it’ll make it worse. That’s what she said, at least.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Pay.”

“…Ah guess if yer not workin’ yer not getting’ paid…”

“Wonder how often grownups have to do that?” Sweetie Belle asked. “It’d really suck to work when I could throw up at any time…”

“At least you could magic a bucket around…” Scootaloo started, and Ivan decided to stop paying attention after that.

--
Cheerliee had taken to visiting often, and Ivan suspected it was to soften the blows to his sanity that the crusaders caused.

The fact that he enjoyed the teacher’s company was a bonus.

“Hello Ivan. How’s the weather treating you?”

“Fine.” He said, making a note to limit any tells pointing toward his current illness.

“I heard that there’s going to be a storm coming in a couple days.” She said, something meaningful in her tone. Ivan flinched a little, and he knew she noticed.

“Oh?”

“A big one.”

“Hey, Miss Cheerilee?” Applebloom piped up with a raised hoof, “Why do we have storms?”

“Mm?”

“Well, Ah get that the lands need water, but why not just have some rain then? Why do the pegasi need to set up a huge storm and muck everythin’ up?”

“Hmmm… say, Applebloom, have you ever shook up a soda can before?” Cheerilee asked, settling down into the grass, Ivan momentarily forgotten in favour of an impromptu lesson.

“Well sure! Applejack falls for that one all the time!”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Anyway, the weather is similar.” As Ivan finished with another tree, he looked back at the teacher and noticed that the four crusaders had all seated themselves in front of her in a row. Cheerilee was gesturing with a hoof the same way that she probably did while in the classroom, sweeping it to indicate the surrounding area.

“There’s more magic then what you find in ponies. While unicorns are attuned to the magic of their own bodies through their horns, pegasi and earth ponies are attuned to the forces outside, in nature. It’s the reason pegasai can fly as well as they do, and the reason earth ponies are so strong. They take from their surroundings, and then give back through their actions. It’s a process so natural, they often don’t realise they’re doing it. The theory’s only taught normally to pegasai who have to make special use of their powers.

“The magic of nature is an old thing. Malleable-“

“What’s that word mean?” Scootaloo asked with a raised hoof.

“Malleable means that it’s easy to shape and manipulate. The magic of nature is normally simple for pegasai to change and mould, but every time they do, it’s like giving a soda can a few shakes. Pressure builds up, and opening it will cause a bigger burst each time.

“Now, can anypony tell me why we have storms? Sweetie Belle?” The unicorn in question lowered her hoof, thought for a moment on how to phrase her answer, and spoke.

“Do storms get rid of pressure?”

“Very good. We can have a lot more sunny days and light showers then we could if we were to let nature do as it normally would. Every now and again though, we need to schedule a storm to calm nature down before the magic becomes too turbulent to control. Remember how a while back, there was word of several disasters occurring in Neighpon?” There was a slow ‘oooohhh’ from the assembled fillies as the lesson sunk in.

“Nature is normally a friendly force. The pegasi can flex it how we want, and nothing bad happens as long as we let it vent the resulting ‘pressure’ on a regular basis. A storm or two a month is the regular amount, though there are deviations depending on the time of year and other factors. Are there any questions?”

“…is… there going to be a test?” Dinky asked hesitantly.

“There will be eventually, for these three.” Cheerilee answered with a smile as she gestured to the other three crusaders. “I was planning on teaching this lesson later on to the rest of the class. You won’t have to worry about it until next year Dinky.”

“Oh.”

“Class dismissed.” And she turned her head just in time to catch Ivan pretending not to pay attention.

“What are ya smilin’ about Miss Cheerilee? Somethin’ funny?”

“No, it’s just a wonderful day, isn’t it?”

“Ah guess so…”

--

The sun was setting a few days later when Cheerilee tried to get Ivan’s attention.

“Ivan!” She said, voice raised, causing him to start and drop a bucket of apples.

“…that was the fourth time I called you. Something on your mind?”

“Tired.” It wasn’t a lie. His illness had gotten worse, and it took a lot of concentration to keep it under wraps.

He was glad his clothes, for the most part, hid how pale he was becoming…

“Oh, well that’s good. I’m pretty sure my guest room is better then any bale of hay, so you shou-“

“What?” Ivan asked, dropping the bucket again as he tried hard to remember when the conversation had turned to this.

“There’s a storm tonight. I told you about it a couple days ago.”

“…barn?”

“It would be quite a cold night. I heard the barn leaks too. Especially after that.” Cheerilee pointed at a rather large hole in the barn’s roof after Jerryrig had tripped during the repairs. He really was quite clumsy for a self proclaimed genius…

“Impose.”

“You wouldn’t be. I offered, in case you forgot.”

“U-um…” Ivan, despite himself, took a step back. Cheerilee responded by taking a step forward.

“So you’re staying over? Wonderful! I’ve been wanting to ask you about the places you’ve been for a while now, but you’ve always been working…” Ivan, left with no escape route, took the one option left open to him.

He sighed.

“Bags.” He said, placing the bucket correctly this time, and turning to make a quick retreat.

Cheerilee watched him go for his things, and wondered why he was so nervous.

She also wondered how hard Applejack was working him, given how sluggish he was moving. Surely he wasn’t that tired when his horn was doing most of the work?

“Alright, time to go!” Cheerilee called to the crusaders, who started saying their goodbyes to Applebloom.

Ivan walked back, saddlebags in place and face set forward, as if he were trying to pretend Cheerilee wasn’t there.

And as the crusaders were escorted to their homes, the teacher noticed Ivan beginning to stumble. His breathing was also labored and slow.

“Ivan, are you alr- oh goodness!” She cried as Ivan lost consciousness and fell forward into the road. And she noticed with alarm as she tried to revive him that the rain and wind were beginning to pick up.

Somehow she managed to get the larger pony onto her back, saddlebags and all, and the problem became obvious as she felt how hot Ivan’s body was against hers.

Given the sweat he was shedding on top of that, the fever must have been severe.

She took a moment to run through her few options. Nurse Redheart’s clinic would be closed at this time, and her home was rather far off.

Cheerilee’s own house though was close, and she knew she had a spare bed and the means to take care of him. At least until the fever broke. By then she could see about getting help…

“Thank Celestia I’m not a pegasus…” She muttered as she hefted Ivan’s weight and started home. Earth pony strength would see her through.

--

A few hours had passed, and Cheerilee was passing the time at Ivan’s bedside between the needed bouts of care with a book.

She might not have bothered if she knew how hard it was to read when there was a horribly ill pony next to her.

“S-Sally?” Her eyes shot up from a page she had read at least three times by accident to see Ivan’s eyes barely open and trying to focus on her.

He struggled, trying to sit up.

“Ivan, just… just rest for now, you shouldn’t be trying to-“

“Sally.” He said again, reaching out a shaking hoof, and Cheerilee found herself at an absolute loss as to what she should be doing about a delirious stallion mistaking her for… somepony. A friend? Lover? Not his mother, she doubted he’d call her by name.

“…yes?” She answered hesitantly, trying to think of anything but that one time Nurse Redheart had cried on her shoulder as she recounted an occasion she pretended to be some poor mare’s mother in her final moments.

At Cheerilee’s acknowledgement, Ivan made a choking noise in the back of his throat that the teacher didn’t think she would ever hear from the grown and grumpy pony she had been getting to know.

“I-I’m… sorry…” Ivan barely got out as he began to cry.

“What…?”

“So s-sorry…”

“I forgive you.” She tried, but then he had cried harder. And for what felt like hours, she had sat there at his bedside, holding his good hoof and listening to repeated apologies for some incident or fever dream that she had no way to see.

And when he had sobbed, groaned and whimpered himself back to sleep, she let his hoof go and leaned back in her chair, unsure of what to think and…

…what did she do about this?

--

She was incredibly thankful that he hadn’t had any episodes like whatever nightmare he had before. She drained her coffee mug, and reached over for the nearby pot to fill it again.

The last time she had polished off three pots of coffee were her college days… She laughed to herself humourlessly.

The earlier incident had left her extremely cautious of leaving him unattended. If he did wake up and called for ‘Sally’ again, she didn’t want to find out what would happen of nopony answered him. Her book lay on the bedside table, forgotten, and she noted with a touch of depression that the sun was rising.

She swore her heart stopped when she heard him stir again.

His eyes opened, and she saw him take a moment to work through the haze that sleep often left behind.

And she sighed with relief when she noticed him, now quite lucid, try to work out how he had got himself into a bed.

He locked eyes with her, and he was plainly trying to figure out which question he should be asking first.

“This is… my house.” She began lamely. “You ah… collapsed in the street on the way here. Ran a high fever.”

Ivan nodded to himself, probably piecing together the events in his head.

Who’s Sally, she almost asked but thought better of it.

“Do you remember anything after that?” Ivan frowned, probably wondering why she would ask something like that. He shook his head no, and Cheerilee didn’t know what to say next.

Ivan’s eyes fell on the empty coffee pot on the bedside, and he raised a telling eyebrow.

“I didn’t get any sleep last night. Really, I’m not even sure when your fever broke… it seemed pretty bad for a little while.”

“…thank you.” He said averting his gaze. She suspected he was looking for his hat, the way his gaze darted about after. She decided not to tell him it was hung up at the front door just yet.

“So how are you feeling?”

“Fine.”

“I doubt that. You can’t be all better yet.” She tried not to laugh when he pouted. All stiff back and wounded pride…

Typical stallion.

“I do know you were sweating like a pig. You’re probably at least well enough to get up and shower that off while I change the sheets.”

He seemed to accept that, shifting the covers aside before noticing his bare front legs with something approaching alarm.

“…what’s wrong? Is it your coat? Of course I didn’t put you to bed in it. It’s in the wash.”

“Mm.” He nodded, looking somewhat like a deer in the headlights. Was the coat a security blanket too?

“…are you getting up?”

“…fine.” He said, settling back under the covers.

“…You’re getting up.” She said, eyes narrowed. Ivan shook his head.

…The foalish contrast to his usual personality was amusing at first. Now it was just plain foalish.

Before he had the chance to use his horn, she had already grabbed the covers in her teeth, and pulled.

“You’re getting up, and we’re going to get all that swea-…” She wondered why she didn’t notice sooner, when she removed his coat. It might have been because at the time she had more important things to worry about then what Ivan’s mysterious cutie mark looked like.

Still though, she couldn’t help but wonder how she had missed it’s absence entirely.

“…I… suppose this explains why the crusaders are so hung up on you.”

“…yeah.”

“Did you… just… lose it?” She knew it was a stupid question to ask, but the only other possibility that came to mind was something she had never even heard of.

“Never got.” Yes, that. Unheard of.

“…I… honestly, I never thought that was possible.” Ivan huffed, probably angered at the entire situation.

He was making eye contact now, probably the first time he had ever done so without his hat in the way. She couldn’t help but feel he was daring her to insult him. It was a reaction he was probably used to getting whenever he was found out.

She sat back down, wondering how to handle this.

Somehow, between Ivan’s collapse and now, she had gotten a startling amount of questions she was itching to have answered. None of which she felt like asking, since… they were all places she didn’t want to go, really.

“Do you care?” She found herself asking instead.

“…No.” Ivan answered cautiously.

“Then I don’t see why I should.” In the end, she supposed it didn’t matter too much. Curiosity was almost burning her with its intensity, but the fact that Ivan was without a cutie mark was, while incredibly unusual, unimportant.

“So… was that your big secret? You’ll go shower now?”

“…yes?”

“Good. I really should be changing these sheets. I’ll see about getting some breakfast for you too… how do you feel about muffins?”

“…I…”

“I’ll take that as an ‘I love muffins!’. Well, off you get.” He rolled off the bed, walked toward the door with his head down… turned back looking unsure.

“Room at the end of the hall. The shower, I mean.”

“…payment?” She actually laughed at this, and she was glad she could. Curiosity died down as she started seeing new sides of the normally taciturn pony. Stripped bare and big secret on the table, he was suddenly so awkward it was adorable.

Honestly, if he were any more coltish, she’d probably enroll him in her class.

“I don’t remember you accepting any payment when you went and helped save a bunch of little fillies. So I won’t accept any payment now that I’m saving you. Sound fair?” He stuttered a moment before offering a quick ‘thank you’ and running right into the door in his haste to leave the room. Cheeks burning in embarrassment, he magicked open the door in a way Cheerilee suspected almost ripped it off the hinges and bolted down the hall.

“Careful you don’t get that cast wet!” She called after him, laughing herself to tears.

--

“So, I take it the crusaders latched onto you after finding out about your lack of cutie mark?”

“Yup.” Ivan replied sipping his tea. Cheerilee had confined him back to a fresh bed as soon as his shower was over, stating that he was to stay there until he got better.

“I suppose that makes you the oldest crusader?” Cheerilee jabbed playfully. “This does explain why they’ve been calli-“

“Title droooooooooooop!” Somepony yelled at the top of their lungs, easily heard through the open window.

“…Probably Pinkie Pie.” Cheerilee said. “I’m pretty sure she’s been doing things like that a lot lately…”

“…farm?” Ivan asked, switching the subject to a problem that had just come to mind.

“Oh, I haven’t spoken to them yet. I’ll do that later on, I’m sure they won’t be too angry at you for collapsing in a sudden fever.”

“Thank you.”

“Not a problem. Either way though, I think you’re good for those fillies. It’ll be nice for somepony to be an example that cutie marks aren’t everything.”

“Mm?”

“Yes, you’ve probably already found out they’re a bit obsessed.”

“Understatement.”

“True. So, you get some rest. I’ll see about talking to Applejack and the nurse and we’ll see about getting you out and about again.” Cheerilee gave him a parting smile, and left him alone.

Ivan rolled over, careful not to rip the pillow with his horn, and decided that a bit of extra sleep was exactly what he felt like.

…he wondered if the fillies would survive a couple days without him around.