Anon's medical advice Part 4

>Never would you have imagined yourself in such an odd looking situation.
>You are Anon, previously a medical student at the St. Fort Chen University, now purveyor of moldy apples.
>Penicillin laden apples, you might add.
>And if your instinct wasn’t enough, you’re pretty sure your spreading rash, swollen face, conjunctivitis and bleeding gums prove that the substance on these apples was the one thing in the world you were allergic to: sweet, antibacterial penicillin.
>Your biggest fuckup of the century, well second biggest, almost killed about a dozen ponies, including two fillies and the captain of something or other.
>Really it didn’t matter who or what status they held, you wouldn’t want anyone’s lives on your hands.
>But no need to dwell on the negative. Even if sepsis was starting to settle, an immediate flood of penicillin to their bodies should get rid of any and all foreign microbes.
>Microbes that have never felt penicillin before, making it incredibly effective.
>Oh yes. Very, very effective.
>This was amazing, it honestly felt like the first stroke of luck in this whole ordeal. I mean hell, all you wanted to do was to stop ponies from mistakenly torturing each other and you made it sort of worse.
>Sort of.
>But who the hell cares, you’re about to fix all this and introduce to the world the miracle of penicillin.
>In low doses, of course, you don’t want to immediately have penicillin-resistant bacteria like what happened on Earth.
>You see Ponyville grow larger in the distance.
>Imagine how happy everyone was going to be!

>”Slow down, slow down. You’re not making any sense. Now Anon is doing what now?”
>The frantically fluttering, flying blue pony grabs Twilight by the shoulders, “Something. Is. Wrong. With. Anon! He’s gone crazy or something! He wants to feed moldy apples from the dump to HELP the sick ponies!”
>Twilight backs a few steps away from Rainbow Dash, a frown deepening. “Are you sure? That really doesn’t seem...”
>She racked her mind, trying to think of some explanation. Mold grew on old things. Rotten food. And he found it in the dump? Didn’t he mention that dirty bacteria got them in this situation in the first place?
>“...sane.”
>A piercing cry of pain cuts their conversation short followed by low moans of agony. A mellow, creamy voice tries to soothe the source, hasty apologies spaced out by low “Shhhh… shhh…”
>”And just LOOK at that!” Rainbow Dash angrily jabs her hoof at Nurse Redheart, the pale pony running Gradient Geese vodka over a mare’s infected wound. The young mare writhed and tremored on the bed, agony twisted clear on her visage.
>The pegasus zooms over to the nurse, “Can you stop??? All you’re doing is hurting them!”
>Redheart sighs, lowering the bottle and tucking the sick mare in, “Rainbow Dash please. I don’t like hurting them anymore than you like seeing it, but Anon said this would help.”
>”Didn’t you hear what I just said? He’s coming to feed these ponies moldy garbage!”
>The nurse trudges to the next bed, dreading ‘cleaning’ yet another wound, “Y-yes I heard. You were quite loud. But these ponies were already in pain, if anything all I’m doing is rinsing their wounds...even if it doesn’t get rid of this ‘infection.’”
>Rainbow Dash scowls, stealing a glance to Spitfire.
>”If it even has a small chance to help her, wouldn’t you want me to do it? And if it doesn’t help, it’s just a bit of pain.” The nurse forces a wry smile, “And are you telling me Spitfire can’t handle a little bit of pain?”
>The pegasus’ features soften a bit, finally giving a sour nod, “Ugh… Fine. You’ve made your point.” She flails her hooves in the air, “But am I the only one who thinks something is WRONG here???”
>Twilight was in doubt herself, but it didn’t make any sense. Why would Anon want to harm anybody?
>”Look, we’ll all go and talk to Anon when he gets here. I don’t like the idea of feeding sick ponies rotten apples either. We just need to talk to him.”
>Twilight opened the door, seeing an odd looking Anon in the distance. Sure enough, his arms were full of miscolored red, lumpy shapes.
>The purple pony really hoped that Rainbow Dash had just been seeing things. She just couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that mold would help any pony get better.

>Holy fuck your arms itched.
>It felt like you buried your arms in a fire ant colony and decided to fall asleep for a bit
>Your stomach wasn’t much better, stress and this toxic penicillin was aggravating it. You felt like you were going to puke. Such is the life of acid reflux.
>You ignored all of that, though. Your first priority was helping out sick ponies, and you were about to introduce a miracle drug to the populace.
Twilight! I’m back, and you won’t believe it! I found what I was looking for!
>You laugh, pushing past the pony into the nurse’s ward
It actually didn’t take me as long as I thought, but look!
>You lower yourself a bit, dropping the bundle of apples on the floor
>They scatter and roll, as if to get away from you
Lucky right?
>Your nails dig into your arms, scratching furiously, like a meth addict
>”Anon…” Twilight starts, a hoof catching and inspecting a runaway apple
>Wait, why isn’t she happy?
>”...where did you get these?”
The dump. Or refuse pile. Whatever you guys call it; it would be the most logical place for me to search.
>Ugh, fucking stomach
>Nurse Redheart finally comes over, a frown forming on her face
>”And these are supposed to...help everypony get better?”
...Of course they are, why do you think I went through all of this?
>Rainbow Dash folds her arms (hooves?)
>Are...what are they doing?
>”Do you really expect us to believe that? Like SERIOUSLY? Look at your face Anon! You’re more swollen than one of Pinkie’s balloons! And your skin is red and splotchy!”
Yeah well I’m-
>”And are you bleeding, dear?” Redheart steps up, inspecting your mouth.
>You spit off to the side, the acrid taste of acid mixed with blood quite prominent.
I’m just al-
>”I’m a bit concerned with you Anon,” Twilight zeroes in on your eyes, scrutinizing them, “you haven’t been acting like yourself since this whole incident happened.”
I’ve just been trying to help you guys with your ass-backwards medicine and to top it off I’ve subjected myself to these apples.
>You jab a finger at the apples, accusing them, as if they were the ones who rubbed themselves in your eyes and mouth
And it’s just that I’m aller-
>”AHA! So these ARE bad apples! I just KNEW something was up!” The blue pegasus joins the other two in your face, blunt teeth bared in anger, “What’s going on here? Did something possess you Anon? Or are you some sort of shape-changer?”
>Fuck this
>You take a generous step back, opting to take the nicer approach rather than knocking them all the fuck away
If you three would shut up for half a second, I’ve been trying to tell you I’m fucking allergic to penicillin.
>”So we’re supposed to believe that you just so happened to be allergic to the thing that’s supposed to SAVE everyone?”
>You felt like screaming
>Stay calm.
Yes, that is, in fact, exactly what the case is. Now do you want to HELP these ponies, or don’t you?
>”Anon maybe we’re rushing a bit into this. Have we even considered the possibility that our two worlds are simply different?”
>For the love of…
Twilight.
>Your teeth grind
Everything matches up with what I’ve said.
>”And everything is getting wors-”
AND I do NOT want these ponies to need amputations or worse, simply die from infection.
>The three of them turn toward each other. Their features soften. Finally. Fucking finally.
>Until Redheart’s eyes widen, a mix of horror, surprise and confusion splayed across her face. She points a hoof at the ground.
>Well at the hole in the ground. Where you spat your stomach acid.
That’s odd.
>You certainly can’t say you expected this. Perhaps your two worlds are a bit different in some regards.
>The three of them stare at you.
>Promptly following is a purple barrier around you on all sides.
Oh come on, certainly you know your stomach has acid in it, right?
>You’re...well you’re being quite ignored right now.
>”I TOLD you he’s a shapeshifter! Maybe one of those changelings?”
I’m not any sort of doppleganger, you guys know me.
>”He had plenty of opportunities to attack us when we were close to his face, why didn’t he?”
Because I’m not a shapeshifter? Hello?
>”I don’t know! But that’s not normal! He just SPAT ACID! come on!”
>”I don’t understand this anymore than the two of you, but I think we should at least confine him to my Treebrary until we understand exactly what’s happening.”
Really? While all of this is happening? Let me OUT of here! We need to treat these ponies NOW!

>Apparently this force field bubble acted like a hamster ball of sorts because it kept forcing you to walk, lest you fall on your face...again
>You opted to walk backwards, occasionally scratching your inflamed skin, to talk to the purple pony that was leading you back.
Twilight, please drop this idiotic act. You KNOW me, you know WHO I am. I don’t want anyone to get hurt indirectly because of me.
>You tap the bubble, could she even hear you?
You HAVE to believe me! Penicillin, this mold, produces a substance that’s meant to inhibit and kill other fungi and bacteria. It’s a defense so it can grow and reproduce better.
>She hardly even looks at you.
>What the hell was going to happen from here on? The ponies might die…
>”...Anon you can’t fault me...fault us for what we see.” Her voice was quiet, clearly unsure, but adamant about her decision. “All of this happened...these new...issues. Mold healing people when its clearly harmful to you? You spitting out...acid. What do you want me to think?”
Can you at least give me a chance to explain myself?
>A shadow seemed to fall over her face. She nodded. ”...okay. You have until we get to the Treebrary.”
>Alright. Calm, reasonable explanation.
>You can tell she slowed down her stride, maybe this wasn’t hopeless.
You already know everything I said about bacteria, cells, and the body, right?
>A nod.
Penicillin comes from mold, it’s a type of mold, actually. It kills bacteria. Some guy figured out that we could use it to get rid of bacterial infections. When you ingest, eat it, it gets to your bloodstream. Your veins and arteries then take this antibacterial substance around your body to help fight off infections.
>”But why doesn’t the penicillin kill your body’s cells then?”
>You hesitate.
I’m...not entirely too sure. I think it’s more or less because of size and the mechanism of action. I mean...the way it kills the bacteria.
>You shake your head.
Look, I care about you gu- ponies. Why would I want to hurt my only allies in this entire world? I can’t survive alone.
>You glance behind you, fuck the Treebrary was already in closing in. You had no time remaining.
And as for the acid, I tried mentioning even before all of this, I just have a condition where I produce more acidic and more in volume stomach acid. It gets worse when I’m stressed or nervous. Or eat bothersome foods.
>”But is it really THAT bad? Wouldn’t that just eat through your body??”
I..no there’s…
>The bubble bounces against the door of the Treebrary
I don’t know, maybe it’s because human’s eat meat. Our stomach acid is stronger than you’d expect. Look there’s no real time to explain this, just let me out so we can fucking fix this.
>She looks at you sadly. “I don’t think you’re lying to me Anon, but that’s just it. I don’t think you are, I can’t be sure.”
DAMNIT Twilight come on!
>You’re pushed inside, your bubble being rolled next to your makeshift bed.
I wish I could just show you but you don’t have a microscope or anything.
>You glance upwards, toward the second story loft.
>”A what?”
>Could she use the telescope?
A microscope is like a telescope but lets you see small things bigger instead of far things closer.
>But you don’t even know who made the telescope in the first place. And would you even have time for that?
>”Hey Twi- Woah...what’s going on over here?” A particular purple dragon slid down a ladder, giving you a once over before prodding Twilight in her side. “And what’s wrong with Anon?”
>Twilight bit her lip, on the fence about what to tell the young dragon
>”We...don’t know just yet. Some of us think he’s a changeling or corrupted, other’s think he’s just a victim of unfortunate circumstance.”
>You notice she didn’t mention any names.
>”I need you to stay here and watch him. The forcefield should stay up as long as I concentrate, but I need to head back to the nurse’s ward so we can figure out what’s going on once and for all.”
>You close your eyes, taking in a slow breath before sitting down on the edge of your bed, letting it out slowly. How long would it take them to figure out that you weren’t lying?
>”Wow a-a c-changeling? R-really?” Spike’s eyes grow wide, stepping away from you while craning his head closer to inspect you.
>I mean, if shouldn’t take them more than a day, right? No one could possibly go into critical condition in a day.
>”Yes, so just make sure he doesn’t try anything funny.” The unicorn closes the gap between you and her, only the barrier preventing her from coming closer. “If you’re still you, I’m sorry Anon, but better safe than sorry.”
>She starts toward the door, her eyes seemed to fondly regard the ground as she walked.
>”I’ll work day in and out to try and figure this out, alright?”
>Seems like she took your advice in one regard.
>And then. Nothing. She was gone, Spike was nervously eyeing your from the desk.
>You were essentially in stasis: all you could do was wait.
Spike.
>You could swear he leapt a good three feet off his scaly behind.
>”W-What?”
I don’t suppose you’re going to let me go?
>”O-of course not! You’re dangerous!”
>You roll your eyes.
>”W-well you might be dangerous…”
>What an exhausting day. You thought you were going to get away from this bullshit but instead you had coated yourself in mold and were accused of being some sort of shape-shifter..
>Fun shit.
Yeah okay. At least promise me you’ll wake me up when someone gets here. Someone I can reason with.
>”Uh..sure I guess.”
>Fan-fucking-tastic.
>You lay down on your bed, staring at the purple sheen of the barrier.
>You hated waiting.
>You idly wonder what Spike was writing down for frantically, but the thoughts are quickly swept away when you roll to your side, sleep washing over you.


>Spike finishes the letter, rolling it up. He glances over his shoulder, making sure the sleeping human wasn’t moving. He had to make sure he wasn’t being watched, who KNEW what this corrupted creature...this changeling...this…whatever he is could do!
>Hopefully this letter to Celestia and Luna could warn them of the danger.
>Potential danger.
>A whiff of green flame and the letter disappears.
>Twilight always said better safe than sorry, right?



>”And how the heck are we going to do that?”
>Twilight slowly went inside, trailed by Rainbow
>Nurse Redheart was still tending to the patients, resting a wet washcloth on their heads.
>Some of them slept peacefully, others… well…
>Redheart put a hoof to their heads. Even with the washcloth they felt like they were boiling alive.
>”I don’t know Rainbow, but Anon was right about one thing for sure, the longer we don’t do anything, the worse these ponies can potentially get.”
>The azure pony inspected one of the apples that had been collected, giving it a sniff.
>Her gagging indicated its aroma exactly. Ugh.
>Redheart pulled up the covers on a particular orange Pegasus; she was trembling and moaning in her delusional state.
>Her actions betrayed that she was cold, but she could’ve lived up to her name given how she felt.
>Awake but not aware.
>”Rainbow, perhaps you’d like to…”
>Nurse Redheart hesitated; this situation was one of the things she was used to. This kind of behavior in a patient usually meant no recovery. She had a day, maybe three at max.
>”...say something to Spitfire? I know you two were close.”
>The apple fell from her hoof; drips of salty water fell from her eyes even before she moved.
>Redheart excused herself, isolating them, closing her eyes in defeat.
>A purple hoof wrapped itself around the white physician, the two of them solemn. Silent. Sad.
>”We’ll work through the night.” She whispered.

>Twilight felt like banging her head against the table. Anon was right, this was stupid.
>Ten hours had passed and they had tried everything they could think to both stabilize the patients and to experiment on this...miracle garbage.
>At this point it didn’t matter.
>”So?” Twilight groaned out. Redheart was returning for the sick ponies.
>”Some are getting better, a few...aren’t.” Her eyes lazed to the side...then down.
>”And...Rainbow?”
>“She hasn’t moved from Spitfire’s side. Always talking to her, comforting her, telling her she’s going to pull through this.” Redheart gave a difficult swallow, a subtle shake of her head, “Spitfire is delusional… talking about ursas flying around…”
>”Is there any chance she will recover?”
>”In my experience, when they’re like this...it’s very slim.”
>Twilight bangs her hoof down, “We’ve tried everything we can think of and there’s nothing. We can’t help the ponies and we can’t figure out if this...this…” She waves a hoof at the apples, “...penicillin is harmful or not. But we don’t have any more options.”
>Twilight starts for the door, “I’m getting Anon.”
>The door swings open before she even gets close, a small silhouette yawns, “There you are Twilight! I was wondering why you hadn’t gotten back yet.”
>”Spike? Didn’t I tell you to watch over Anon?” She straightens up, “Oh is he here too? That’s great!”
>”What? No! He’s corrupted, remember?” Spike put his claws on his sides, giving an idle scratch, “Why would he be let out?”
>”I said he MIGHT be corrupted! We’ve run out of options and…” the purple pony furrows her brow, “If you think he’s corrupted and evil, why did you leave him alone?”
>”That’s the best part!” He gives a triumphant fanged grin, “I didn’t! I sent a letter to the princesses and they took him back to the castle prison. Don’t worry; I warned them about his acid spitting.”
>How the heck did the princesses even determine Anon was evil? And how are they even supposed to give the mold as medicine? They never even asked Anon if there was anything they needed to do to it!
>Twilight knew she shouldn’t have even mentioned that to him. His imagination is the worst.
>”We have to hurry and get him!” She barreled out the door.
>Redheart said one to three days.
>”Lets get our hooves to Canterlot, pronto!”
>She glanced over her shoulder. Rainbow still wasn’t going to move. “Come on Spike, Redheart.”
>Goddamnit Spike.
>It wasn’t his fault that he was still young and naïve, but still
>One day minimum, three days tops.
>They could do this.