Choose Your Friends

>You awake.
>A new day as Anonymous, number-crunching tax man extraordinaire.
>Tax season is far gone though; you’ve substituted making apple alcohol with AJ in your down time.
>You’ve started to grow a few plants on your own to pass the time.
>All of them opium poppies.
>You’ve collected, in secret, around 30 specimens. All purely for research though.
>This is a unique opportunity to study opium alkaloids without having to worry about legalities.
>That’s what you keep telling yourself. You know you’re doing something wrong.
>About as wrong as a pony trying to rape a human.
>You haven’t seen Fluttershy since you helped plant her flowers a month or so ago.
>You tried knocking on the door the next day, but no one answered.
>Nevertheless, you acquired the poppies from Zecora at the small price of 50 bits.
>Sure, you had to lie and say you were going to synthesize medicine from them to help ponys all over Equestria…but…
>Wait…was that a lie?
>Not exactly. You have found that the morphine content in these poppies is almost 65%; nearly triple of what they are on Earth.
>Without ammonium hydroxide however, extracting the small amount of morphine will be difficult.
>You look over your charts again.
Is this even worth it?
>The hours of experimenting, the countless tests…for nothing.
>You have run out of money. You put everything you had left into this medical venture.
>You decide to get away from the science and go for a walk to clear your head.
>Your skin is tight and greasy…it’s been a while since you’ve slept, let alone showered.
>Who cares. You make your way to Fluttershy’s. She may be quiet and want to rape you, but she’s really the only friend you have.
>You knock on her door.
>No answer…again.
Fluttershy! Open up!
>Time to pull out the big guns.
I…I want to see you…
>You gulp hard.
>There’s only silence.
>You start to walk away as you hear the door creak open behind you.
>”An-nonymous..? Is…that you?”
>You look over your shoulder into the darkened doorway to see an emaciated, dingy yellow mare with the same voice as Fluttershy.
>She falls to the ground, hitting it with a thud.
>You rush over to her.
Fluttershy? Can you hear me? What happened to you?
>Her mane is filthy with dried vomit and her coat is stained with grime.
>You stare at her closed, sunken-in eyes.
Fluttershy! Wake up!
>You pry open her eyelids. Her pupils are behind her head.
>You carry her to the couch. Her house is a terrible mess…trash and animal feces everywhere.
>You place her down on the cushions. She’s as limp as a corpse.
>She looks like one too.
Fluttershy! Wake up!
>You slap her cheeks, but no response.
>You’re starting to panic. You come to see your friend and it looks like a vampire has sucked the life out of her.
>You start shaking her, the tears in your eyes forming.
>Fl-flutters…wake up! Answer…me…
>Full on crying.
>You hang your head in your hands.
>Moments later, Fluttershy responds.
>Her body does, rather.
>Like several jolts of electricity coursing through her veins, Fluttershy begins to convulse and jerk.
>It’s not voluntary, her eyes are still closed.
>She lays next to you. She’s started to make a gagging sound.
>You are scared; you don’t know what’s going on but it frightens you to no end.
>In a few moments, Fluttershy gags more. Her convulsions are so violent she flops onto the floor.
>You rush to her side and hold her, just as her mouth opens and a mass of clumpy vomit exits it.
>Surely if you weren’t there, she’d be dead right now.
>An hour later and Fluttershy still hasn’t regained consciousness. She’s at least alive though.
>You look around her house. She has poppy everywhere.
>Stems and pods have been used to make poppy tea, and dried opium in a makeshift pipe.
>You realize she’s been abusing the plant severely.
This is all my fault…
>Fluttershy is laying on her side on the floor.
>You decide to clean her up a bit.
>It’s the least you can do.
>You drag her to her bathroom and run her a hot bath.
>You gather up some soap and a loofah.
>With all of your strength, you set Fluttershy into the bubbly water.
>You get your long sleeves wet and remove your outer shirt.
Fluttershy…I don’t even know what to say to you.
>You take handfuls of water and run it down her mane.
I’m…so sorry. You wouldn’t be like this if I had told you about the flowers.
>You want to be in her position. You deserve it more than she does.
>So much for starting out your new life the right way.
>You shampoo her mane and scrub her coat.
>She’s breathing better now, still unresponsive though.
>Fluttershy must have been binging on opiates ever since you last saw her. She could have gotten more flowers from Zecora, or more likely, the Everfree Forest.
>The guilt is almost too much for you. You have ruined this mares life.
>And for what? Certainly not the good of science.
>You look at the lifeless pony in the water.
>You’d do anything to have her back.
Fluttershy…
>You’re talking to yourself, but it helps the pain. You’d like to think she can hear you.
I’m sorry.
>You move in and kiss her warm lips and rest your forehead on hers.
I never wanted this…
>You decide to let her soak a little more and you walk out of the room.
>You hear some stirring in the water.
>”…Anonymous…?”