Down on the main road lay an old but well furnished pharmacy. The outside walls were coated with white paint and the occasional graffiti. An herb symbol was hung from the roof to let the populace know the importance of this building. However, in the first months after Daniel initially bought the store and restocked it with supplies, the store never became as popular as he'd have hoped nor well visited by customers.
It was like any other pharmacy out there. The only reason why some people go to visit is because it's either near their house and work places or it was the few people who mistook the sign for something other than a pharmacy. The latter from which Daniel had to shoo away.
Daniel, who was facing upkeep costs, was worried he was going to have to sell the store and work in retail. He kept it in the back of his mind as he worked another day. Then another day. Then another. With a week left, he was stumped. He wasn't going to make it. It was over for him. His doctoral degree wasted and he was going to work in a supermarket for the rest of his life. In the dead of night, unable to take the stress away, he sobbed for he cannot do anything.
Daniel felt something shake. Whether it was somewhere or within him, he did not know. Until the shaking was so intense, he wobbled and fell to the ground. It felt like an earthquake was coming down on the city.
Immediately, he curled up and used both of his hands to cover his head in the hopes that anything crashing down on him would not instantly kill him. But the shaking stopped suddenly. Way too sudden than what an earthquake should be. Daniel slowly stood up, confused and cautious. If an earthquake did pass then an aftershock might be right behind it as well.
A million thoughts raced through his mind. Brain cells working like they hadn't done before in months. Yet, all that freezes up when he hears someone nearby. Inside his office.
Daniel thought the worse and quietly vaulted over the counter to open a drawer. Fishing through bandages and cotton, he pulled out a Glock 17 and a magazine with only 3 rounds in it. Got it cheap on a sale and it was his only form of self-defense against robbers or that one greedy self-entitled customer that popped in every other month.
Silently, he opened the door to his office.
The door didn't betray him with a squeak and he peered into the darkness. The light from the store room leaking into the office. Daniel sought for the person who got into his office this late at night. A small window that separated the inside from the outside was closed but it was likely that the thief could have shut it closed afterwards.
Shuffling. Behind his desk. Only 2 inches of wood obstructed the view between him and whoever is behind it. He aimed his pistol in the center of his wooden table and placed a finger over the trigger. His breath shaking and his index finger in contact with the trigger. For a moment, he thought maybe he was imagining things and the stress was making him think unclearly. He tried to calm down but his mind kept on telling him that there was still a presence from behind the table.
Someone bumped the table loudly and Daniel, in a fit of panic, accidentally squeezed the trigger.
*BANG*
Whoever was behind the table fell onto the tiled floor. The figure hissed in pain as the bullet struck them. Daniel looked on in horror then turned to his pistol.
He didn't mean to do that.
Daniel released the magazine and removed the bullet already chambered in the pistol before ditching it somewhere far away. He fiddled for the light switch and the office room lit up. He zipped out of the room and grabbed the medical kit underneath his counter. Right next to where he originally kept his pistol, ironically.
With no second to waste, he stormed back in the office, medical kit in hand to treat the injured person behind his table. But he never expected it to not be a human.
Right there, applying pressure over the bullet wound, was a zebra with the biggest eyes he had ever seen on an animal. The zebra's lips were pursed, trying to breath as calmly as possible. The equine's forehooves were stained with blood trying to stem the blood flow but without medical help healing from this was improbable.
Daniel shook off from the weirdness and rushed in next to the zebra. Both human and zebra made eye contact for a second before the pharmacist was quick to break off and rummaged through the red bag. Daniel held some painkillers in his hand and shook one pill out. Only to realize that he had no idea if the pill was either the right dosage or how to ask the zebra to take one.
To his surprise, a striped hoof snatched the pill away from his hand and swallowed it. Shaking off bewilderment again, the pharmacist worked quickly. He disinfected the open wound then reached in his bag for tweezers. Luckily, the bullet didn't hit any arteries however, it was deep inside and he spent a long time removing the bullet and pieces of it stuck in there.
The pharmacist wiped the sweat from his forehead with a clean arm and wrapped a dressing around the wounded area. Reinforcing the dressing with a bandage to make sure it doesn't fall off. The human double checked any and all areas on the zebra's body before slumping on the wall, exhausted.
Daniel smiled. Knowing that the equine was going to be okay. The zebra must know this too since it hasn't been wildly flailing its hooves. Which made him quite surprised.
So far, this zebra knows what painkillers are, knows how it's used, expresses a lot of emotions through facial features, and is wearing accessories. Earrings of all things. This was not just a normal zebra. Daniel decided to put it to the test and to check if he was hallucinating or not.
"So... where are you from? You're obviously not from around here" Daniel asked. Slightly out of breath.
"My name is Zecora, an alchemist. I see you are good with medicine, pharmacist" Zecora replied. Wincing when she tried to move her wounded hind leg.
"Whoa. That was a rhyme. That was cool. My name is Daniel" Daniel breathed in between sentences.
"I thank you for stopping the blood before it can spread, I feared that soon I might have been dead"
"Why thank you. I know medicine well. Got a degree and everything," Daniel's mood shifted from pride to sorrow. "But I'm out of money. If I don't get enough money to pay for the tax on this building... It's over for me"
Zecora tapped her muzzle for a while then sat up from the floor.
"I may be able to help you, like you have been able to help me too"
"How?"
"I know how to make the best healing brews, your pharmacy has some pills I can reuse"
"By all means, you can use whatever is in here. If you do, I'll let you stay in my house for however long you'd like"
"Thank you, Daniel. All this talking has made me sleepy, but please tell me, have you dealt with the person who hurt me?"
"Uh... that was me. I shot you" Daniel cringed inside.
Both human and zebra stared into each other's eyes again for an uncomfortably long time.
The city was in good spirits. The recently opened pharmacy may not have the best start to its career but its business was better than ever. Newly made batches of medicine began popping up on the shelves and have shown to be on par with hospital-grade medicine for a much cheaper price.
Intrigued, a few doctors and chemists living within the city began buying and made a thorough test. They revealed to the public that the medicine should have no side effects nor do harm to the person taking them. The reveal boosted the publicity of the building to greater amounts and soon, a quarter of the city has heard of the pharmacy turned apothecary.
In the afternoon, where the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, a moving car stopped and parked in front of the apothecary. A man in casual wear then stepped out. Regardless of the "closed" sign behind the sliding doors, the man knocked on glass.
"Hang on! I'm coming" A voice comes through the office.
Then the office door opens and a figure pops out. The silhouette slides open the locked entrance door and greets the man.
"Oliver! Long time no see" Daniel spread his arms out to hug the man with a huge smile on his face.
"He-ey. Long time, I know. I just wanted to see what was up with my colleague" Oliver smiled back and hugged back. Daniel let go and stepped back.
"You're not jealous of me, are you?"
"Me? Jealous? Hah! I mean, I am in a way, but that's not why I'm here. I have been told you were the best at prescribing medicine so I thought I would stop by"
"Oh? What is it you need, friend?"
"I've been having... hallucinations... I think"
"You think?"
"Yeah. Lately, I've been seeing a dark figure in the corner of my eye. Sometimes it whispers in my ear and when I whip my head around, I see no one"
"That sounds bad. Are you sure you're getting enough sleep?"
"I don't. I haven't been able to sleep much this week. There has been a flurry of accidents just recently," Oliver spread his arms out wide. "Big traffic jam. Bus full of people got hit and we're only halfway through the patients" then he dropped his hands limply.
"Oh jeez..." Daniel cupped a hand over his mouth. "Come on in, I may be able to get you something that can help you"
The pharmacy looked more modern than it was weeks ago. New tables, brighter lights, a standing electric fan, and a new polished marble counter. The shelves were stocked with modern medicine but the better self-made medicine was on a hanging shelf behind the counter next to the office door.
Daniel moved to the hanging shelf and carefully sifted through the rows of bottled salves and syrups. Oliver looked in fascination at the colorful ointments that was stocked in a short supply.
"Can you tell me about your hallucinations?" Daniel asked to pass time.
"It's... really weird. Almost like a paralysis demon coming to haunt me whenever I wake up from a restless sleep. That's another thing, I'm always tired when I wake up. Like I feel drained and I want to stay in bed for a bit longer but I still have to go to work"
"Sleep paralysis? Damn. And this happens everyday?"
"Every other day. Which is odd because I don't believe that's normal. I still think it's a hallucination from my inability to sleep well or long"
"Can you tell me what it looked like?" Daniel inspected a bottle of yellow cream labeled "For cuts" before storing it back in place.
"It was... black. It had these big blue glowing eyes and I could hear this... buzzing noise. Like a bee"
"Glowing eyes? A bee? Could your demon just be this huge giant bee that your subconsciousness created? Heh, it makes sense from your irrational fear of bees"
"Hey! Those things are scary!"
"Okay okay," Daniel snickered. "I think I sold out the first few bottles of anti-psychotic drugs already. I have to make another batch of it again soon"
"You're out? Should I come back another day?"
"Oh no. My mentor and I have got the recipe down and remembered. I'm sure I can whip you up something immediately in my office"
"Mentor? Have you been taking lessons from someone?"
"Not really. She ran an apothecary before so she knows a lot of things I don't but I know a lot of things she doesn't. She's both my mentor and student now that I think about it"
"What is she? A witch?"
"Alchemist"
"Is there a difference?"
"Yes" Daniel put a hand around the door knob and entered his office.
The office had a wooden desk in the middle of the room with a piece of paper taped onto it for seemingly no reason. Behind the desk was a window that showed the back of another building. Because of this, it acted more like a vent than a window. To their left, an alchemy station was left unused and a drawer labeled ingredients took up the entire wall. On the station were flasks that connected to other flasks and alcohol lamps underneath a select few containers. What caught the doctor's eyes the most was this miniature cauldron over another alcohol burner that looked well used.
Daniel picked up a bottle of crushed tablets, grabbed a few herbs from the nearby cabinet, a water bottle and set them all down on the station. Oliver watched in awe as the pharmacist began mixing each ingredient carefully into the mini cauldron.
After minutes of focusing and utter silence, the mixture in the pot changed from a dark brown to a bright red. Daniel shut off the alcohol burner and used a glove to delicately pour the mixture into a clean vial. The pharmacist closed off the brew with a cork and presented it to the amazed doctor.
"This should do the trick. Careful though, the drink should feel thick"
"Wow..." Oliver slowly grabbed the newly made anti-psychotic medicine from Daniel's hand. "This small amount is enough for my hallucinations?"
"It should be just enough for a week. Five milliliters before bed only, else your head will feel weak"
"Are you... rhyming?"
"Yeah. Another thing my mentor taught me. She's really good at rhyming by the way" Daniel answered while replacing all the items he used in brewing potions.
"I bet," Oliver pocketed the vial and took out his wallet. "How much?"
"Twenty dollars but if you return the vial back to me, you'll get a fifty percent discount"
"Basically just ten dollars? That's cheap! If the doctors were right, then you should sell these with a much higher price"
"I could, but what I profit from these is enough for both of us and the tax"
The two left the office and just as Oliver was about to say his farewells, a man came in the store. There was worry in his eyes but was doing his best not to show it.
"Daniel? Are you still open?"
"Yeah... yeah I guess I still am. What do you need? The usual supplements?" the man shook his head.
"No. No, I still have extra. I need something that can heal a scratch"
"You're hurt? Hold on. I got a medical kit here. I can patch you up" Daniel quickly rummaged the drawer underneath his counter.
"Not me. Someone dear to me," Daniel stopped searching and looked over the counter. "He cut himself bad while cutting vegetables and I rushed here to see if you still have those healing ointments"
"Oh. Oh! I do" Daniel picked up a bottle of yellow salve and handed it out to the man. "That'll be sixty. I'll give you the ten back if you return the bottle to me. Wash the wounded area then apply the cream. Shouldn't take more than a day to heal"
"I'll return it once we've used it all up. Thank you, Daniel" The man held the container tightly in his hand and waved goodbye to the pharmacist.
"Take care, Johnathan" the man closes the door behind him and walks away from view. Oliver looked at where Johnathan once was then back to his colleague.
"You two know each other?"
"Sort of. He comes by every week to buy supplements from me then we chat from time to time. He helped me keep this place afloat back in the beginning, when barely anyone would buy from me"
"Huh. That's sweet of him" Oliver looked out the door again and quickly noticed the lack of light outside. "Oh shoot! I have to go too. See ya!"
"Take care to you as well, Oliver!" Daniel shouted back as Oliver practically leaped out the door and drove his car down the street.
Daniel closed the open door to the pharmacy and walked back to the office. The door behind him clicked shut and the pharmacist sighed in relief. He walked behind his desk and crouched down to talk to the shadow crouched underneath the table.
"They're gone now. You can come out, Zecora"
"I'm flattered that you called me the best, I hope it was not in jest?" the zebra poked out from the the shadows.
"It's no joke. You are the best person I've ever met to rhyme that great" Zecora averted her gaze to hide a faint blush rising in her cheeks. Luckily, the pharmacist never mentioned it and held out a hand for her to accept. The human brought the zebra up to her hooves.
"We should head home now. It'll become nightfall at this rate" Daniel walked away to open the office doors once more and motioned the zebra to hurry up.
The pharmacy closed its lights off for the night and the two mammals left the premises via car. The pharmacist drove the automobile past the streets and the alchemist stayed in the passenger seat sleeping the time away. The car then stopped right in front of a house not too far from the place they both worked at.
Daniel grabbed a jacket that was left in the car's front passenger seat and bundled up the snoring zebra in the back. Daniel hefted up Zecora, keeping her close to his chest as possible and walked through his front door with the intention to sleep peacefully throughout the whole night and start a new day.