Down with the Sickness (Ended)

[Lux]

Sweet Surprise walked down the stairs and into the candy store she worked at, groaning with each step she took as her head drooped. It was as if her body was resisting what she wanted it to do, even the simplest of things like walking. To make things worse her muscles ached with every step like she had just ran a marathon.

As she walked, she would occasionally let out a cough which made her wince as it agitated the soreness she felt. The chocolate pony didn't feel well at all. Her head felt stuffed up and so was her nose. She couldn't help but cough and sneeze occasionally. The young mare could have easily just stayed in bed, and no pony would complain. Even Mr. Cocoa suggested that his assistant take the day off. But Sweet Surprise was determined to not lay around all day. And so she made her way to the counter, prepared to help her customers.

"Hi there," she said in an uncharacteristically dead tone to the first pony to enter, "Welcome to (cough) Mr. Cocoa's (sniff) Candy Confections. I'm (cough) Sweet Surprise. How can I help you?"

[Frost137]

Three Cloud trotted up to the candy store since school just got out. He was off to the library until he glanced to his side and see the wonderful sweets. He checked his saddlebag. Inside was a few bits, hmmm he might get something.... Hopefully his parents didn't mind. (Probably.) But this one time only! He cannot pass this through!

The mustard yellow colt walked right in. He saw all of the goodies that were around him from the jawbreakers to gummy worms. He couldn't decide. Maybe some of the gummy sharks! He absolutely loved the colour blue which was the reason why he wanted the gummy sharks. Clouds took a bag and walked to the counter and prepared his bits.

[colour=#A52A2A]"Hi there, [/colour][colour=#282828] [/colour][colour=#a52a2a]welcome to (cough) Mr. Cocoa's (sniff) Candy Confections. I'm (cough) Sweet Surprise. How can I help you?"[/colour]

Three Cloud reared back. Whoa, she was sick! But why in the world did she had to work today?

"Good afternoon miss, but are you okay?" He sat the bits on the counter.

[Lux]

Sweet tried to smile through her feeling lousy. The colt that came in had the same expression of amazement that many other ponies had who came to the store their first time. Even the regulars had the same expression as well at times. This colt however gave new meaning to the phrase "happy as a foal in a candy store."

[colour=#a52a2a]"Oh, hi there (cough). I'm ok (sniff), I guess. Just a little [/colour][colour=#a52a2a]sniffle. So, what's your name?"[/colour]

Sweet tried to mask feeling icky, not wanting to cause any alarm. as long as she wasn't doing strenuous she'd be ok. At least, that's what she hoped would happen.

[Frost137]

Three Cloud looked at her. He can tell she wasn't okay, sneezing and all. At least she hasn't touched the bag. He opened the bag and dug down and bit one shark's head.

"I'm Three Cloud." He said with content, chewing slowly just like his mum taught him. He bit the body. "I live here with my mum and my dad. I wish my sister was here though." He said glumly. He loved his older sister. "Her name's Jigsaw. She's in Stalliongrad studying. But she's really cool! She's a camp counselor at Camp Little Lake!" He didn't know where the camp was, but it was somewhere in the Whitetail Wood. "I do know that my parents know where I am, supposedly at the library. But I had to stop by here!"

Clouds trusted the candy mare. He didn't know he was chattering since he usually shys away from most foals his age since he didn't want them to laugh at him. Maybe it was because she worked at this place and the candy made him jittery with excitement. But he liked this conversation especially when it was with an older pony. He felt even smarter than most of his classmates, even though he was smart enough.

[Lux]

For a moment, Sweet Surprise thought that the pony was snacking on the candy sharks without paying for them, but in her mental fog she forgot that he had already set his bits on the table. The pony was very much an open book talking about his parents and sister. Sweet wondered why sometimes ponies were so open to her, but if she could brighten up a pony's day then how it happened really didn't matter.

[colour=#a52a2a]"I see you like those gummy sharks (cough). We have gummy worms too (sniff) which are in different colours. Let me show you."[/colour]

The mare, thinking she was feeling normal instead of sick started trotting but then felt her balance start to waver. It was like her bod wasn't doing what she wanted it to do. she began to move in a zigzagging fashion, unable to walk straight as the world around her began to spin.

Finally she made it to the stand where there was a huge square box separated by a wooden grid where there was loose candy.

[colour=#a52a2a]"Ok. (cough) Just give me a second and I'll show you those gummy worms (sniff)."[/colour]

[Frost137]

Three Cloud brightened up again. colourful gummy worms? Hopefully there were the blue ones! Not sure if he liked the colour blue because it was just it's colour or the flavour of blueberry or just berries. As the mare walked passed the counter, Clouds politely moved out of her way. But he noticed her wobbling to her side. He tried to hide his giggle. He wasn't sure if she was dancing happily or wobbling, but from the looks of it she must be.... sick?

[colour=#A52A2A]"Ok. (cough) Just give me a second and I'll show you those gummy worms (sniff)."[/colour]

She was about to reach in the jar. Three Cloud was on his hooves, he exclaimed,

"Wait! D-Do you want some help?"

[Lux]

For a moment, Three Cloud's words sounded like gibberish in Sweet Surprise's mind. Was she really that sick that her brain was being affected. Thankfully things did get sorted out a little.

[colour=#a52a2a]"Oh, well, I'm fine (cough) I think. Just have a little cold I guess (sniff). Don't worry. I'm still as fit as a fiddle!" [/colour]

She gave the pony a reassuring smile, mainly actually to reassure herself, before attempting to grab the glass container with worms. As she stood on her hind legs she began to feel very dizzy as the room began to spin in a kaleidoscope of colours. Suddenly she felt herself falling backwards and quickly grabbed onto the only thing nearby: the jar of candy. Unfortunately for Sweet Surprise it came loose out of its slot and Sweet tumbled onto the floor. The jar then bounced on her stomach before rolling onto the floor.

[colour=#a52a2a]"Err...maybe I'm sicker that I thought." [/colour]

[Frost137]

Three Cloud stood back before he was about to be toppled on, and then gave her an uneasy smile. He picked up the jar of candy and set it right next to her. Taking off his glasses, he helped picked up Sweet Surprise.

"Are you okay miss? Do you want me to put this back up? Because this isn't the worms.... honestly....."

[Lux]

[colour=#a52a2a]"Oh, thank you," [/colour]Sweet Surprise said as she was helped up.

She wobbled a bit but managed to keep her equilibrium enough to stand. The colt mentioned something disturbing, that the jar she selected was not filled with gummy worms.

[colour=#a52a2a]"Of course it's gummy worms," [/colour]the mare said with a nervous laugh, [colour=#a52a2a]"I mean, something would be really wrong with me if I didn't know my candy."[/colour]

Sweet Surprise looked over at the jar and gasped. For there in the jar was clearly malted milk balls.

[colour=#a52a2a]"Oh no! Something is wrong! I don't even know my own candy anymore!" [/colour]

[Frost137]

"Do you need some rest?" Three Cloud asked the mare. "It would be nice for you to sit! I can try taking over the counter! I can do math!"

The colt picked up his stuff and trotted behind the counter and sat in the chair with a grin on his face.

"This is fun!"

[Lux]

[colour=#a52a2a]"Oh well thank you for helping me," [/colour]Sweet said as she was helped up by the nice colt.

[colour=#a52a2a]"It's really nice when somepony helps me run the ... [/colour][colour=#a52a2a]wait a minute what?"[/colour]

Sweet Surprise stopped when she heard what she though the colt said about running the store. Maybe it was the cold that now confused her hearing.

[colour=#a52a2a]"Did you just say that you wanted to run the store?"[/colour]

[Frost137]

"No, but I said I can try taking over the counter!" Three Cloud said gleefully. "I know how to subtract and add! Trust me, I had an A+ on the test last week and now I'm learning how to multiply! I can do it!" He grabbed a gummy shark and ate it as he waited for the next customer.

[Lux]

Sweet looked at the colt in front of her. On one hoof she vowed to work today and was unsure how much this customer actually knew about retail and the delicate art that was candy making. But on the other hoof she was sick and couldn't function even as half of her normal self. If she didn't do something she'd have to close early, a fate worse than getting stuck in taffy or when she made the jelly beans that tasted like vegetables which didn't work so well.

[colour=#a52a2a]"Um... I guess you can help today," [/colour]she said to the eager colt.

[Frost137]

A dark coloured unicorn cantered the candy store. The quietness was disturbed by the ringing sound of the door. Her eyes were closed as she hummed a simple tune until she opened her eyes and saw something not in the ordinary. She saw a yellow colt taking over the store while the brown mare told him that he can work, or that's what Mended Heart thought. She eyed the two suspiciously. Isn't there a law in Equestria that little foals shouldn't work?

Three Cloud looked over and saw a customer! Maybe he show miss Sweet Surprise that he can do this job!

"Hello and welcome to...." he tried to remember the name of the store. "....The candy shoppe! I'm Three Cloud! How can I help you?"

"Hi!" The customer replied with a small smile. "Nice to meet you! I'm Mended Heart. Do you have any dark chocolate here?"

Uhhhh.... Clouds was shot with anxiety. His eyes fluttered towards the wall of chocolates. Where were the dark chocolates? He glanced over to miss Surprise to see if she knew. Well of course she did! But this was getting a bit awkward; this must be done at a quick pace. Clouds slowly slid out of the seat. "It's right... over... here....! Ahaha...."

[Lux]

Sweet Surprise watched as a new pony entered the store. Having Three Cloud as a temporary assistant could either be a big success or an epic failure.

The colt seemed to forget the name of the store, and he didn't quite know where the chocolates were but so far nothing bad happened.

[colour=#a52a2a]"Um... Three Cloud. The place is called Mr. Cocoa's Candy Confections. Yeah, I know it's a confusing name, but you'll get the hang of it. Also just take a moment to get used to where everything is in the store." [/colour]

[Frost137]

"Mr. Cocoa's Candy Confections.... Mr. Cocoa's Candy Confections." Three Cloud tried to memorize the name as he walked over to the chocolates section. He skimmed through the tags on the jars until it said 'Dark Chocolate.' There! High up on the shelf. Would Three Cloud be able to reach it?

"Do you need help?" Mended Heart, slightly taller than miss Surprise, reached up and grabbed it.

"THIEEEEEEFFFFFFFF!" Three Cloud screamed.

"What? No! I'm just helping you.... Uhm..." The mare quickly grabbed her bits out of her saddlebag and gave it to Three Cloud. "Ah- Here you go!"

"Oh-? T-Thanks!" Clouds said with a flash of change in his personality.

[Lux]

Sweet Surprise watched as Three Cloud scaled the shelf. She worried that he would be ok. The last thing she wanted to do was explain to this colt's parent or parents why he was now hurt.

Luckily the colt managed to get the item with the customer's help. Suddenly Three Cloud accused the pony of thievery.

[colour=#800000]"Three Cloud," [/colour]she yelled and then broke down in a coughing fit.

[colour=#800000]"I know you want to play store manager, but you can't accuse ponies of being thieves."[/colour]

She then turned to the pony who entered in. The poor thing probably felt startled.

[colour=#800000]"I'm really sorry about that (cough). My name is Sweet Surprise (sniff). Is there anything else i can get you?"[/colour]

[Frost137]

"Oh, no it's fine all I needed is some dark chocolates. You see they're my favorite kind! Did you make these?" Mended Heart asked the kind mare and eyed the evil colt. Three Cloud glared at her back.

[Lux]

[colour=#800000]"Why yes I did, well, either me or Mr. Cocoa who owns the store (cough). Of course (sniff) I didn't [/colour][colour=#800000]make those today (cough) being sick and all. But do you have a favorite candy miss?" [/colour]

[Frost137]

"I like most kinds of candy," replied Mended Heart removing her gaze at the colt. "But I love dark chocolate!"

"Bleh! Dark chocolate?" Three Cloud said in disgust. Mended Heart gave Clouds a little push away from the conversation. He walked back to the counter.

"What's your favorite candy?" Mended Heart looked back at Sweet Surprise.

[Lux]

[colour=#800000]"Ooo..." [/colour]Sweet Surprise said through a few sniffles, [colour=#800000]"You like dark chocolate too? I love dark chocolate!"[/colour]

Upon hearing Three Cloud utter his disgust at dark chocolate, the chocolate pony turned to him with a look like he said the foulest thing in the world.

[colour=#800000]"Bleh .... to dark chocolate? You're not sick or something, are you?"[/colour]