Things had moved quickly. At Rarity's insistence they had moved the proceedings--- doctor, patient, family and all--- back to the Fabulosity and reconvened in the royal suite. A giddily hopeful Mr. and Mrs. Peach were even now tending to Sweet Peach, who was lying asleep in Rarity's own bed.

Once her guests were squared away, Rarity had fired up the full-length Magic Mirrors and gotten things started. She may have been no healer or scholar, but she was an absolute networking demon.  Within minutes, the Princesses of Equestria were online and their staff were hustling. Even Celestia, Luna, and a rather surprised Zecora (1) were in on the consultation with an amazed Southern Comfort. "I cannot thank your highnesses enough for this," he said for what had to be the fourth time.

"It's no problem, Doctor Comfort," Twilight said. She had gotten to work the moment Rarity had spread the word. She had multiple books open before her; others could be seen circling in the air behind her. "It's important to catch these sort of things before they spread."

"Even if'n they wasn't, we wouldn't wan't to leave a li'l filly in the lurch," Applejack said. A chorus of agreements answered that.

"Prin... Celestia, have you or Luna ever heard of such a disease as this?" Twilight said.

Celestia, in her own mirror, shook her head. "I've heard of many similar conditions, Twilight," she said. "But nothing quite like it. I have sent word to the royal physicians inquiring after it, but... it will be a bit of a search."

"Strewth, I must confess, I have never heard the like, either," a frowzy-headed Luna admitted. (It was still early in the morning, for her.)  A worried-looking Pinkie Pie was standing alongside her, bouncing in place.

"I know, neither have I, well I've heard of frost fever and dust lung and rock farmer's toe and parasprite itchies and I know fifteen home remedies for the chicken pox but I've never heard of anything like a glow-in-the-dark fever," she said. "And I've asked all the guardponies and the ship's crew and the serving staff and even the cabin colt..."

"Oh, good thinking, Pinkie Pie," Twilight said. "Everypony, be sure and pass word around with your staff.. even the chambermaids. We all have crew from all over Equestria, surely somepony has heard tell of it."

"Ah'll send word around my crew," Applejack said. "Ah probably got the widest selection o' guards on the planet. One o' them's bound to know something. Go on, one of y'all, git on the grapevine, double time..." the farmpony said to the guards standing behind her.

"What about you, Zecora?" Twilight said.

The zebra herbalist shook her head, her gaudy earrings jangled. "Of ailments I know not a few, and remedies for them I know too, but truth be told I do not know if they will be of any use to you." Her voice wavered and her reflection rippled; the reception from the inside of a cauldron wasn't exactly perfect. The others blinked. Had she just made a limerick? "This disease of a strange glow, its cause I do not know. To make amends, some invigorating brew I might recommend? Twill lend your patients vigor and strength, while we pursue the cure at length. "

Southern Comfort hemmed and hawed. "I'm... not so sure about using zebra potions," he said gruffly.

Applejack gave him a withering look. "You got a problem with zebras?" she said.

Southern Comfort looked flustered. "No no, of course not-- it's... just that... zebra potions and such aren't really properly tested---"

Applejack cocked an eyebrow and looked to say something else, but Twilight interrupted. "Zecora's medicines and potion work are first rate, Doctor Comfort," Twilight said mildly, forestalling anything more heated from Applejack. "I would trust her with my life. I have, in fact. If she offers you a remedy or treatment, you can trust it."

Southern Comfort sketched a bow to the mirrors, abashed. "My deepest apologies, Ma'am. I meant no insult." He pulled a quill and parchment from his doctor's bag. "Ah, you were saying, about an 'invigorating' potion?"

Zecora dipped her head in reply, accepting the apology with good grace, and began reciting one of her many recipes.

As providence would have it, no miracle cure was forthcoming. Hours passed; those on board the Fabulosity were forced to bed down for the night while others continued the search. The inquiries spread; more ponies were brought into the spreading web.

Throughout the whole, Sweetiebelle was an angel-- she took it upon herself to look after their littlest guest, talking with her and entertaining her when she was awake, fetching soup and juice and (with some embarrassment)  a bedpan when Sweet Peach needed it, doing her best to be a good nurse. No nursing cutie mark was forthcoming, alas, but she did a fair enough job.

It was early the next morning when the first lucky breakthrough happened. A few of Applejack's ragtag band of soldiers had, indeed, heard of Foxfire Fever, or at least something close enough to it. "They called it 'Ghost Candle Sickness'," Omari said. The zebra stallion stood next to Applejack and gave his report, his deep voice sending shivers down several of the mares' necks. "I heard of it while I was stationed out near Hollow Shades. I never saw a case myself, but the description matches."

"If the symptoms match true, we owe a debt to you," Zecora's ripply reflection said. "Did the villagers speak of the cure that we seek?"

Omari's ears flicked back nervously at the zebra shaman's voice. "No, Ma'am," he said. Very, very politely. Zecora chuckled but said nothing.

Three batponies, the Nightshade triplets, edged into frame on Applejack's other side. "Our mother told us stories of such a glowing disease, in our home in the Foal Mountains," the sister said. "There were several names for it..." Her ears laid back. "None of them... very encouraging. Ghost Candle, Grave Candle,  Hinkypunk bite..."

"Hinkypunk bite?" Southern Comfort said.

One of the batpony brothers spoke. "According to the story, naughty foals got the sickness when a Hinkypunk bit them. The glow was supposed to be... um... supposed to be the sick foal turning into a ghost." A brief chill passed around the room.

"What's a Hinkypunk?" Rainbow Dash chipped in.

The batpony rolled his eyes. "Nopony ever said... just that it lived down in wells and old cisterns. I always thought it was a story made up to keep foals from playing around places where they could fall into the water and drown."

"In wells or cisterns," Southern Comfort muttered. "Or swamps, one presumes."

"Just what I was thinking," Rarity said, unsettled. "Do you mean to say this could be some sort of-- of poisonous animal bite?"

"Or a magical one," Twilight chipped in. "Hinkypunk, that rings a bell. Let me get my Compendium of Magical Creatures..." a voluminous tome spun through the air and opened before her. "Hinkypunk, Hinkypunk, H-I-N-K... Ah!" Everyone leaned in towards the mirror. "Hinkypunk, also known as a Ghost Candle, Hob's Lamp or Jack o' Lantern. Small-category Sylph. It appears as a small glowing light. Usually seen in bogs, swamps, or abandoned wells. Often mistaken for Will o'Wisps, known for leading ponies astray... hm."

"But why would it be going about biting ponies?" Southern Comfort said.

"Maybe if it felt its home was being threatened," Fluttershy said. "The book says they live in wells and pools. If a pony went poking about in there, it would bite them to defend its home."

"Or for more malevolent reasons," Luna said ominously. "We recall a few variants of such unseelie things that delighted in poisoning and sickening the unsuspecting."

Rainbow Dash sat up. "Wait, I know this one!" she said.  "Hey Flutters! Remember that jump-rope poem everypony used to say when we were fillies?"

"Which one?" The butter yellow alicorn said.

"You know, it was sort of like ring-around-the-rosy," Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes at the girlishness of the memory. "How'd that dorky thing go...

" Starve a fever, feed a cold,

Tummy ache, bread mold,

Rosemary for aching wings,

Willow Bark for pains,

Ginger Beer for Stomach aches

Something... for... brains?

Something something Manticore sting,

Honey for a rainbow burn..."

"Oh yes," Fluttershy beamed, clapping her hooves.

"--Eye bright, see right---

And a pocket full of Silphium

For Jack o' Lanterns bite!"

Twilight made a pleased sound. "It sounds like a list of folk remedies!" she said. "That sort of thing is common in most juvenile folklore..."

"Yeah, that last verse never made any sense to me, even as a foal," Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her head. "I mean, who ever heard of getting bit by a pumpkin?"

The third batpony standing with Applejack chuckled. "We will have to take some time to tell you the folklore of our land," he said. "The vampire melons(2) should interest you." Dash blinked a double-take.

"Let me check my book of herbs..." Twilight said, whipping another book over to herself, right out of Spike's grasp.

"Silphium I have heard of indeed, a miracle plant for those in need," Zecora. "But alas for lot, seen it I have not."

"Wait, you said Silphium?" Princess Celestia said. "Oh dear..."

Heedless of the commentary, Twilight continued to flip through her tomes. "Silphium: Silphium (also known as silphion, laserwort, or laser) was a plant that was used in classical antiquity as a rich seasoning and as a medicine. It was the essential item of trade from the ancient North Zebrican city of Cyrene, and was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their coins bore a picture of the plant." Haha, yes!" Twilight crowed. "Girls, we have it! 'This highly useful medicinal plant...." her face fell like a stone. "went extinct in the second century of the Celestial Era..."

There was a collective cry of dismay. "Yes, I recall that," Celestia interjected. "The plant was literally worth its weight in silver... but the demand was enormous, and it was incredibly difficult to cultivate-- we did try to save it, but even the best earth pony gardeners struggled with it... I'm sorry, my little ponies..."

"Why was it so in demand?" Rarity asked.

Celestia's cheeks turned a bit pink. "Because, among its many medicinal uses, it was also an aphrodisiac-- and, um, a method of birth control," she said.

"Oh. Um, was it ...effective?" Rarity couldn't help asking.

Celestia looked at her. "Enough that it was listed as an essential for a well-stocked spice rack," she said drolly. "And the plant is still associated with love and romance to this day... you know how a valentine heart is shaped?" She sketched on out in the air with her horn. "That was actually the shape of a Silphium seed pod."

"So are we saying that the only known cure for this ailment is a plant that has been extinct for over eight hundred years?" Southern Comfort scowled.

"Surely it can't have died out everywhere," Fluttershy protested.

"That may be, my little pony," Celestia said. "But if so, it's well hidden. Expeditions went out for nearly a century afterward, looking for any sign of it, with no luck."

"Well my little animal friends can go where no pony explorer could ever get," Fluttershy said firmly, getting to her feet. "I'm going to ask my birdie friends to start looking for it. Little valentine shaped pods, right Twilight?" Twilight nodded. "Good. I know they can find some." She trotted out of frame. "...I hope they can..." they heard her say faintly before the door closed behind her.

"Okay, hold up, backtrack a second," Rainbow Dash said.

"Vampire melons?"

"Melons, pumpkins, any type of gourd really," the batpony guard shrugged. "According to the legend, if you leave a ripe one on the vine under a full moon, it turns into a vampire. Bleeds from the stem, rolls around chasing ponies, thirsting for their blood..."

"Ewww. Ohmigosh is that real?" Spike said over Twilight's shoulder.

"Spike, it's just an old mare's tale," Twilight said patiently.

"Yeah, and so was Nightmare Moon," Spike pointed out. "No offence, Princess Luna."

"None taken."

"Look, that's not--"

"Hey, I'm with Spike, here," Rainbow Dash said. "I wanna know if this is legit. I mean I don't wanna be at a picnic someday, get a big old slice of juicy watermelon and get my face sucked off!"

"Don't look at me, Dash. I'm a mare who grows Zap Apples for a livin'..."

"Girls, could we please focus...?"

The group began quibbling over details. Rarity, for one, did not join in. Biting her lip, she silently withdrew, leaving Southern Comfort and the doctors standing around the mirrors debating alternatives with the scattered Princesses.

An hour or so later, Sweetiebelle found Rarity out on deck, looking out over the city. She sidled up quietly to her older sister. "Are you okay, Rarity?" she asked.

Rarity gave her a wan smile and nuzzled her. "As well as I can be, one supposes," she said. She heaved a sigh and turned her gaze back out over the city. "I'm just... at a loss for anything I can do."

"What do you mean?" Sweetiebelle squeaked. "You're a princess now! And an alicorn! You can do anything!"

"Hardly, dear," Rarity said with a hint of self-contempt. "Princesses can't do anything they want. We can only do so much. And alicorn?" Her laugh was a little bitter. "Alicorn of Generosity-- what does that even mean in this case?"

"I don't understand." Sweetiebelle's voice was soft and laced with concern.

"I don't suppose you would," Rarity sighed. "Think about it. Celestia is the alicorn of the Sun. Luna is the alicorn of the Moon. Applejack's magic lets her know truth from falsehood and honesty from deceit. Cadence's magic can make love fountain up wherever she goes. Twilight-- well, she's the very embodiment of magic itself! But what does it mean to be magically Generous?"

"Well, um," Sweetie tapped her hoof against her chin. "You're rich now.. you could... use your magic to give bits to the poor?"

Rarity chuckled. "I am and I'm not, Sweetie," she said. "Princesses have a lot of money and can spend it... but in the end it's from the treasury, from taxes and the like. It's somepony else's money. Everypony else's, actually. And it's not generosity to give away somepony else's money. Generosity is when you can give of yourself." Her smile disappeared into a frown. "And in this case... there's really nothing of myself that I can give.  I don't have any magic that can help, I don't have any wealth of my own, beyond a carefully measured allowance, I don't even have book knowledge or experience that is of any help here. What can I do for that poor sick little filly-- make her a new dress to wear in her sickbed?" Her voice cracked.

Sweetiebelle quietly burrowed into Rarity's side, comforting and seeking comfort. "You'll think of something," she whispered.

"I know I should," Rarity said. "That's what I've been doing; standing here trying to think of something. Anything." She stamped her hoof in frustration. "We have a diagnosis, we know what the cure is... all we need is the cure. But the cure has been extinct for almost a thousand years! Oooh, it's so frustrating!" She stamped again. "Somewhere out there is the cure-- somewhere! Little Sweet Peach needs it so badly, and if we could just find it... oh... oh my!"

Sweetiebelle looked up in surprise at Rarity's interjection. For some reason Rarity's horn was lit up and sputtering like a firecracker. "Oh my goodness! Sweetiebelle, fetch the guards!"

"Why?" Sweetiebelle yelped, stepping back out of reach of the sparks.

"Because I'm going to need their help right awaaaaaaaaaa---" and with that the elegant alicorn began sliding across the deck. She accelerated rapidly and, with a squawk, shot over the rail in a flail of wings and hooves.

"AAAAH! Pony overboard!" Sweetiebelle screamed, running to the rail and looking over. To her relief Rarity was not plummeting to her doom; Sweetie had forgotten she had wings. Of course, Rarity had been unprepared to be flipped over the rail by her own horn, so she got her wings got tangled in the trailing drape of her gown. The Alicorn of Generosity tumbled to the ground squawking and flapping like a chicken launched from a barn loft. She managed to hit the ground with all four hooves and began sliding down the street, dragged by her madly sparking horn. "Hang on, Rarity-- I'm coming!" Sweetiebelle shouted. She galloped back down the ship, looking for somepony to lower the ship and drop the gangplank.

1) She'd nearly been scared out of her stripes when Twilight Sparkle's face had appeared in the surface of her cauldron.

2)Yes, this is a real bit of folklore from eastern Europe.   Next Chapter: Chapter 22 Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 44 Minutes