Diary of an Apothecary

5/26, Four Princesses Hotel, 9:56 PM

Forgive the sloppy format, I suppose I'm a bit more excited than I should be. Today, the verdict had come in: I have been accepted as a member of the Canterlot Research Association. The vote had finally come in, with only 2 votes making the cut. However, instead of being one of the Program's researchers, they elected to put me as a Contagion Analyst, or as some have named them, "The Plague Guard". According to Dr. Biotic, my task is to establish a footing in one of the major populations in an attempt to locate potential contagions for a plague under the guise of a pharmacy. Many ponies that go into the field often suffer due to working with so many sick patients and many in the Association saw Plague Guards as being on the lower rung, but I was more than happy to accept it. The risk of infection was worth helping ponies in need.

After filling out more paperwork (a task that was so mundane, the doctor had to keep me from falling asleep using a ruler and a cup full of ice), I was told that I was to pick a major city and look for a building to set up my office. Apparently, this program would cover the building and the set-up, but once everything was set up, I had to provide monthly reports of the water, soil, and air's contagion levels. On top of this, I was tasked with preventing ponies with illnesses from spreading to others, hence the pharmacy guise. Any profit acquired would be divided 40-60 going to the Association, who would, in turn, pay for the utilities.

It didn't seem like much but a simple routine, but I was more than willing to put up with a little monotony. When it came time to decide my city of operation, I recalled a memory of my time in the orphanage. Petal and I were hanging out on the roof of the orphanage, something we often did when nopony was around. We talked.

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"Hey Stripes, if you got adopted, where do you wanna go?" I shrugged.

"I dunno. Anywhere with nice ponies, I guess." I looked over at her. "What about you?"

She giggled and stood on her hind hooves, spinning on it. "I wanna go to Manehatten! I'd be the best actress in all of Equestria, and then I could travel all over and make everypony smile!!"

I laughed as I saw her gracefully spin, her presence warming me. Then the thought came. "Will you... Will you try and visit me?"

She turned over to me, surprised at first, then smiling brightly and hugging me tightly. "Of course! You're my best friend, Stripes!"

Her grip was tight. I sputter out a bit as I hugged her back. "Y-You're my best friend too... P-Petal... Can't breathe..."

"Oops! Eheheh..." She loosened her grip and chuckled, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry..."

"It's okay..." I didn't let go. The moon was bright that day, shining on us like the brightest of spotlights.

"You'll always be my best friend Stripesy... I promise..."

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I wrote down Manehatten. Aside from the fond memory, I know its dense population meant that a contagion could spread much faster. Anything I could do there would at least help the Plague Guard already stationed. They told me that I could pick where I wanted to be set up, so Dr. Biotic and I looked over the Manehatten map to see where we could set up. Unfortunately, the upper middle-class areas had been occupied already by a few members of the Guard, so trying to go there and look for Petal was out of the question. Doctor reminded me however that I had to focus on my job, not just pursue a memory at the moment. He was right. This was my job. In the end, we both agree setting up in the lower income area was the best option. While it is true that it had more violence and thefts, it was also where most contagions were more likely to spread in the past. This would be a trying time, no doubt, but it was also the most fruitful.

While we prepared for the trip to Manehatten to pick a building, I had decided to make a few stops. First, I stopped by the Willow Street Orphanage to say hello to Ms. Helpinhoof. She had seemed a tad peeved at me for the incidents that had occurred, but before I could explain myself to her in a flustered manner, she let out a loud giggle and hugged me tightly.

"Oh Xathan, honey, don't worry! I'm not mad in the slightest." She moved back to look at me, her motherly face still bright with cheer. "You made everypony proud standing on your own four hooves and making it this far. No matter what happens, I'll always be proud of you."

I couldn't help but go teary-eyed as I pulled her into another hug. She had been the sweetest mare for not just me, but everypony else, that I had no hesitation when I uttered into her ear.

"Thank you... Mother."

She gave out a gasp as I could tell her face was frozen in shock. Then she returned my affections with an equally tight hug. I held onto her tightly, like a young man being sent to war and saying goodbye to his mother one more time. I had no idea what lay ahead of me, so I wanted to the pony who took care of me all those years ago. As we released our embrace, she spoke to me about my career path. I informed her about my new position within the CRA.

"Contagion Analyst...? That sounds quite dangerous, Xathan..." I nodded in confirmation.

"But the job could save lives. I can't refuse regardless of the prestige or the safety. If a plague is about to occur, I'll be the first to know and might be able to stop it from happening altogether."

This did not seem to quell her worries. "It also means you're more likely to get infected."

I hugged her once more for reassurance. "I promise I'll be safe. You'll have my words on that."

She chuckled a bit and returned the hug. "You just be safe now, promise me that."

"I promise..." After letting go, I prepared to make my leave when a question popped into my mind. Turning back to my ~~mother~~ caretaker, I asked. "Would you..." I hesitated. "Happen to remember what happened to Petal Breeze?"

She smiled at me in a way seemed to ask 'Is that why you came here?' and nodded. "I do, actually. I can't give the details for legal reasons, but I can tell you she's in Canterlot."

I bowed my head low to show my appreciation. "Thank you. I appreciate the information." Inside I was kicking myself for a moment. It seemed like it would not be my fate to find her in her dream city. All I could do now was act as one of the city's many defenses against disease. I was all to happy to comply.

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After saying goodbye to ~~Mom~~ Ms. Helpinhoof, I ran into Septic Cleanse once more in an attempt to say goodbye to the first friend I had met outside of the orphanage. At first, it had seemed that he resented me over the graduation incident, in a way that seemed to indicate I had caused him humiliation. However, I offered to buy him lunch, and he almost immediately jumped on the offer. I chuckled as we stopped at a small curry place. He never was a pony who could refuse a good meal, especially if it was free.

We sat in silence for a while, occasionally making idle small talk as we waited for our food to arrive. It turns out he was part of a team that was responsible for developing gastroenterological medications, something he was especially good at. I cracked a joke to ease the tension, and he seemed to loosen up. As our food arrived and we chowed down, he paused, looking up at me.

"Listen, Xath..." He muttered. "I'm... Sorry for kicking up dust like that. It was bullheaded of me and I should've thought better. It's just... You've done a lot for ponies, and you always seem to suffer for it. Remember when you stayed up helping ponies study for the midterm? You were like a zombie the next day, you almost slept through the test!"

I nodded as I recalled the memory. The ponies in question needed to pass the midterm or they'd lose their scholarships. When I offered to help, they didn't give it a second look. Despite my exhaustion, I did well enough on the exam, and the ponies in question managed to stay in the program long enough to pull their grades back up.

"I just... I still think you deserve that award."

I smiled at him and placed my hoof on his, patting it. "I understand, Sep. I'm not a fan of it either, but I learn to deal with it. Truth is, I think he deserves is simply because he created an amazing tool that could help everypony. I can see many uses for it, in my opinion."

Sep simply blew his mane out of his head. "I will never understand what goes through that brain of yours, Xath."

"Let's pray you never will cause at that point, I'm getting brain surgery!"

We had a long laugh, Sep accidentally shooting curry out his nose as we desperately tried to stop the burning pain he was feeling. Eventually, we started talking about work.

"So, Plague Guard, huh?It feels like they're selling you short, ya know?"

"Hey, I'm not complaining. I wanted a job that can let me help ponies, and this fits right up my alley."

He shrugged as he gulped down his meal, sighing in satisfaction. "Well, promise me you won't die of botulism, or else I'm going to have Celestia resurrect you just so I can beat you with a rubber glove."

"Sure, as long as you don't end up too far inside a pony's digestive tract and choke on horseapples."

The quiet diner filled with our laughter, a moment that I'll never forget as I said goodbye to my colleague, roommate, and friend.

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Once I returned home, I finished packing all of the necessary items for a few nights stay, Dr. Biotic and I made our way onto the train and straight to Manehatten. The trip itself was a quiet one, with the only thing I could really say is some members of Canterlot's newsponies bugging the two of us on the way there for questions. It seemed I had developed a small reputation before I could even do anything. I sighed as I helped my aging mentor pack up our bags. I must have had a face matching my mood at the time since Dr. Biotic placed his hoof on my shoulder and smiled at me.

"Heheh, it's not easy living in the limelight, is it? You want to pity anypony, pity celebrities that have to deal with that on a daily basis."

I smiled a bit. "Did you ever have to deal with that, Doctor?"

"No, not really," He mused with a shake of his head. "When I was young, we were allowed to smack reporters. Ponies knew better than to mess with us!" He let out a slightly wheezy laugh as he shook my shoulder a bit, ending his chortle with a little sigh. "Now, I knew a mare that had to deal with the whole nine yards, an actress. She used to write to me saying they were driving her nuts and she had no privacy." He adjusted himself in his seat. "She said that her husband and I were her two pillars to keep her steady."

I was almost afraid to ask, but I grew morbidly curious. "What happened to her?"

Dr. Biotic grew quiet, clenching his cane a bit as he recalled the memory. "Some... Real goon of a reporter... Had a bit of a hatred of the poor filly. Don't know why, but anyway... He intercepted one of her letters to me. He made the whole thing seem like we were... Intimate. Things got heated with her husband, and he came to me to try and knock my teeth out. We fought for a bit before I knocked some sense into the stallion and told him that I had no intention of taking her away from him. By the time we figured it out..." He looked down a bit and shaking his head. "Well, no medicine I could brew could help her."

I fell quiet, feeling pangs of guilt. In my mind, I opened up a wound that closed long ago, and I didn't want him to go into the details for his sake. Instead, he looked at me with an old, wise smile. "Xathan... Cherish the ponies in your life. You never know when you'll see them again, and you never know what might happen to yourself. Just... Be good to everyone. There's no reason you gotta be poisoned with hate."

Looking back, I nodded and hugged him tightly. It felt so nice to hug my father, even if I knew he did help create me. Once we arrived, we took a cab to the hotel just outside the area I had agreed to choose. To make the decision and finally move in would take a bit more time than usual, so when I update this may be a few days or weeks. Until then, I'll bid you all a good night.