"Hey, Twilight!" Spike said. He was a purple and green dragon, and the pony he was talking to was the one that hatched him on that faithful day.
Twilight Sparkle was a nerdy pony but unlike most ponies on Earth, she was a bipedal 5'2" anthropomorphic lavender librarian, turned into Princess. "Yeah, Spike?"
"I just got a new book series! Don't worry it's not enchanted like the Power Ponies issue last time. But it is the origins of a new hero, Cursed Healer."
"Cursed healer?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, I read a bit, and he has powers that heal any type of diseases of a patient, but gains the patient's disease for a shorter time while the pony will never get the sickness again and the worst the sickness the longer it takes the cursed healer to remove it from their body," Spike said.
"Well there is no danger for now, so why don't you read it to me, Spike." Twilight said.
"Really?" Spike asked.
"Yes Spike, go on and read it," Twilight said.
"Okay!" Spike said as he read the origins of the cursed healer.
[Chapter (one] life before the powers.)
Hello, my name is Zack Mancer, and this is what my life was like before entering a 'super' store. It was mostly uneventful but, once I was 18 years old I was a nopony after I was just 21 years old something happened to me that I'll never forget, and I became the best doctor on earth.
Hear my tale of woe.
The 'Super' store that I mentioned is mostly shrouded in mystery, but every once in a while, you hear rumors of a hero or a villain with powers with a 'twist' to them, like I have heard they could run faster than light but only in reverse. All I knew was that this 'Super' store only appeared when it was needed and that most of the ponies that entered the store were almost always low on cash.
Like 15% of this city, I was part of the poverty line, but I still had some cash, although not much, three no five bits to my name, when I was at the superstore. That's when it to a turn… for better or worse, my life was about to change.
[Chapter (2] the store.)
Today is my birthday. I'm now old enough to drink! I was having an uneventful birthday, as usual. I was walking out of the grocery store, when the door opened, in the parking lot was a gigantic building. Ponies we're walking through it like it was nothing. Wagons were driving right through it; birds were flying through it. But when I got to the building it was solid for me, unsure I hesitated from opening the door, and was greeted by a substantial discount bargain bin, full of 'fortune cookie'-like sheets of paper, but unlike fortune cookies these sheets of paper says weird superpowers plus the back describes the downsides of supposed superpowers.
The pony clerk of the store says, "Welcome, Zack Mancer! You are wondering many things in your head, the simplest answer is that this is a superpower store where you can buy superpowers. And why do I know your name, well I'm a mind reader, but with some weird twist. And like you, I was called here into the store. So you have been chosen to choose a superpower, browse and come to me when you have chosen your power. Also, you can't leave without buying one."
"Hey, that clerk seems to be like Pinkie Pie sometimes." Twilight Sparkle said interrupting Spike.
"Twilight will you let me continue?" Spike asked.
"Yes, sorry," Twilight said as Spike continued to read to Twilight the cursed healer.
"What?! Why?" I asked, as I tried opening the door only to find out it was locked.
"You are very annoying," I said.
"Don't blame me, blame my powers. I can't turn it off." the clerk said. I shrugged it off. Not thinking much of it.
A shudder from the store and now in my left hand was a superpower paper. I decided to read it.
Cursed Healer:this power is where when touchingsomepony who is sick, the hero gains the pony's sickness for some time, while the pony itself is free from thatsickness forever, once the hero sickness time is ended, they the hero, can be returned to healing again.
This power is incredible but is the illness the only downside? I flipped the paper and then continued to read.
Note Works for all ailments; mental, physical, animal, even extraterrestrial! The worst of the illness, the longer the hero has to survive. If the said hero dies from the infected patient's sickness, then the last pony they healed gains the hero's powers with instructions from the previous dead hero. Thus, the cycle continues.
And there it is the major downside. Well, it's better than reciting all of π in 3.14 seconds. "I'll buy this one," I said.
"It seems like Zack Mancer, missed out on a cool power, I mean reciting all of π Is pretty cool. Even if it's infinite." Twilight said.
"Twilight! Story?" Spike questioned.
"Right, sorry, continue Spike," Twilight said.
"That comes up to five bits. And I know that is all you have, but believe in me saying that these weird powers are worth the cost." the clerk said.
"Fine. Here's the bits." I said, handing the clerk all five bits to my name.
"As I must tell you, that this will change your life." the clerk said, before I left, unknowing at the time my life did change as soon as I left the store.
[Chapter (3] accidental tests.)
I left the store paper in hand until it disappeared out of my hand. Weird, I thought. Then a surge of an overwhelmingand indescribable sense of pain to most ponies but for me, it was like standing in front of the face of death, but it lasted for a second then the pain stopped. Was that my powers activating? I thought.
I went on my day, and found over ten bits on a whim, I tried to go back to the superstore only to find that it was returned into a parking lot.
"Well crap, can't go back into the superstore," I mumbled under my breath.
So instead of worrying about my choice, I went back to the grocery store and bought a lotto ticket, but the griffin who gave me my ticket looked like they have started a cold so I shook their hand and I felt sick but the griffin I touch looked liked didn't have a cold in the first place. I left the store with almost 1,000 bits from the lotto ticket, and by the time I went to the nearest fast-food restaurant, I felt better than before.
There was an old pony in front of me, ordering a medium drink and large fries. "That will be 96 bits miss." the cashier said.
The older pony tried to give the cashier 69 bits "You still need to give me 27 bits, " the cashier said.
"Oh, I'm sorry I must have misheard you." the old pony said as she gave the last 27 bits and I intently helped with the old pony by holding her hand to walk to her car.
When I looked at the time at the car's time, it said 9:30 pm! But the sun was out, and the sun, position tells me it looks more like 6:30 pm, not 9:30 pm. Dyslexia? I thought, Reminder, I might want to study on medical Indisposition.
I checked in the library, with a fundamental book about medical diseases. Browsed the book to the section on Dyslexia, it was informative and well-written. Unfortunately, I can't check out the book, so I exited the library with new knowledge, and then a cat came up to my leg, and I had a particular urge to wiggle my butt, the urge to but wiggle increased until I couldn't control the urge to do so. It lasted for five minutes, and I was getting stares from ponies.
I was going back to my ally of living space, going inside a huge cardboard box big enough to fit one full-sized adult in a curled-up position. I slept a near-dreamless sleep. Knowing that in the next couple of days, I would push my powers to new limits and have a job perfect for my abilities.
[Chapter (4] he has a job)
I hit my head on my cardboard box, as usual, crawled out of my home, walked out of the ally, and saw the grocery store sign a block away from me. It feels like another dreary day, but maybe I can change that. I went to Nana's Nursing Home, and had the resume recommended paper with me, while the resume was through the paper itself had been folded, ripped, and crumpled up at one point or another.
"Zack Mancer should of taken proper care of his resume." Twilight comment.
"Again, can I finish the book, without interruption?" Spike said.
"Sorry, Spike I'm hooked on the cursed healer. I haven't heard of a book quite as engaging as one of the many other novels I used to read." Twilight said,
*buzzed*
"One moment, please." the pony at the speaker said.
*click*
After hearing the click, I opened the door. Now the place wasn't too fancy with high tech or something like that; it was more down to Equestria housing for older adults. I go to the counter, meeting a stallion who looked like they were not happy working there but got stuck in this dead-end job.
"Hello, welcome to Nana's Nursing Home, what are you here for?" the stallion said, sounding like he didn't care what happens to these elderly ponies as long as he has a paycheck.
"I'm here about the job opening," I said trying to be as professional as possible, even if I looked like somepony tossed me in a garbage bin on trash day.
"Can I see your resume?" the stallion said.
I hand over my resume. "Well everything looks like they're in order, but it says here you have no current place of residence, is that true?" the man asked.
"I was at an apartment until the lease was up, and was in the middle of buying a house and fell through. Right now, I'm at a hotel." I said.
"You're hired! Work starts tomorrow, bring scrubs, we have an opening in the day shift or overnight shift. Which shift do you prefer?" the man asked.
"Overnight shift please," I said as that was my best choice to learn the limits of my powers.
"Want to take a break, Twilight it's getting late. And we still have many more chapters left to go before the book is done." Spike said.
"Alright, we'll pick this up tomorrow," Twilight said as both Spike and herself headed to bed for another day.
Author's Note
trying a new format, where it switches between the book and pony life.
