2986 Steps

by Verlax

Chapter Two - The Reason

A few days earlier...

No matter how much time passes, some things never seemed to change. For Twilight Sparkle, one such thing was reading. As a filly she loved burying herself beneath piles of books, constructing book forts and going through the contents of her strongholds of knowledge. She could spend hours just lying on the floor, reading books about magic, history, physics or medicine, a content smile constantly playing on her lips. Even now, as a grown up mare, she liked to come back to the fond memories of her youth, and take a day or two off, just lying inside a book fort and reading to her heart’s content. And today was just such day.

She was lying on the floor, covered with a pile of books and was going through one of her favorite volumes of ‘The History of Equestria’. Even though she tried to recreate everything from her childhood, some concessions towards modernity seemed to find their way into her recollections. For instance, Spike brought her a radio and put it on the table in the middle of the room. At first she was skeptical about this –she liked to enjoy a good book in absolute silence. Her number one assistant however foresaw this, and knowing she wasn’t a fan of the modern-day popular music he tuned in to a station broadcasting the greatest orchestral pieces instead. She had to admit, it did heighten her experience: nothing could top reading about the Hurricane Crusade while listening to Ludwig van Beethooven’s masterpieces.

Twilight would probably be reading the chronicle for a few hours, but suddenly the music stopped for no good reason.

"Huh?" she get rid of it, raised her head above the book confused.

"We interrupt this program with an emergency broadcast! Please stand by!" a voice of stallion came from the speaker.

It was really strange, this station didn’t broadcast news from the world, only music. After a few seconds another voice began to speak.

"According to an announcement given by the government of the city of Flankfurt of North Equestria, the city has been hit by an epidemic. The data gathered by the local doctors are unanimous: it's leprosy. According to the official statement of Princess Celestia of Equestria, the city is effectively under quarantine until further notice."

"Leprosy?" she thought to herself. "I think I recall something about this..."

She levitated "The Diseases of Our World" by Louis Pasteur and opened it. The transmission was still on, but she wasn't paying it any attention now. She flipped through some pages and found what she was looking for.

"Leprosy is a chronic disease caused by a yet undiscovered kind of bacteria." she read "Leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions are the primary external sign. Left untreated, leprosy can be progressive, causing permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. Contrary to folklore, leprosy does not cause body parts to fall off... wait, WHAT!?" she shouted out in shock.

Fortunely, this was only a text. She turned a page and cringed at the site. She forgot there were pictures in this book.

It was a picture of a unicorn pony, though at first glance she could tell something was horribly wrong with it. After staring at it for a few moments she realized, that what she at first assumed was the pony’s coat color was in fact discolored fur, great patches of black covering its normally teal body. Even more disturbing was the pony’s face. Its nose seemed collapsed inside its snout, and its horn was covered with something akin to rot, making Twilight rub her own self-consciously. Next to that picture there were a few images of the pony’s hooves. They were covered with blisters and wounds, and both blood and some kind of sticky, black liquid was pouring from them. Even more disturbing was the next picture, this one of the pony’s face up close. With its collapsed nose and rotting horn the suffering pony looked like if he was trying to smile weakly, but the lavender mare realized with shock, that it was a paralyzed grimace, yet another symptom of the disease. Below the images there was a short description:

“Unicorn Pony from Coltkutta suffering from the weaker variant of Leprosy.”

Twilight felt sick, she averted her gaze from this picture and began breathing heavily several times. She thought she would vomit, but thankfully she managed to calmed herself. Those photos were so suggestive, it terrified her.

“Twilight?” she heard Spike come back to the library. He closed the door behind him. “Is everything alright?”

“Spike, take a letter.” she ordered weakly. Her hooves were trembling, but she couldn’t help it.

“Ehm, no offence, but you’re not looking too good.” Spike said confused.

“Yea, I know. But take a letter nonetheless. It’s really important.”

Spike bolted and grabbed a piece of paper, the quill and an ink bottle. He dipped the quill’s end in the ink and looked at her.

“Dear Princess Celestia...” she started.

And Twilight realised that she had no idea how to write this one. It was the first time in her life that she didn’t even have the slightest idea how to start a letter. She was just standing in the middle of library, trying to come up with a good way to start.

“Twilight?”

“I’m thinking Spike!” she almost snapped back.

“Yea, I see that. It’s just that it’s not something you usually have problems with.” he said calmly.

He was right and it made Twilight even more annoyed. She was trotting in the circle, still thinking about what to write. The images of this suffering pony were flashing before her eyes, they were so suggestive...

---

Dear Princess Celestia

I heard about the leprosy epidemic in the city of Flankfurt. I can only imagine the pain you must feel after learning these news, but for what it’s worth, I am deeply saddened to hear ponies suffering from such a morbid disease. However, I cannot sit idly by in my library and let innocent ponies suffer. I’m no doctor, but I posses a great deal of knowledge in the field of medicine and I think that my magic can help fight this plague. In light of those facts, I’m asking you for permission for travel to Flankfurt to lend the local doctors a helping hoof. I know that the risk is high, but I just can’t sit and do nothing.

Your faithful student.

Twilight Sparkle

---

Spike’s claws were a blur as he diligently wrote down Twilight’s words. After he finished he rolled the piece of paper and blew a jet of green fire on it, changing the letter into a mist of sparkly smoke speeding in the direction of Canterlot.

“Leprosy epidemic?” asked Spike once he was finished with that.

“Yes.”

“And what’s that?” the dragon asked curiously

Twilight looked on the pile of books where she left her copy of Diseases of Our World. She breathed a sigh of relief noticing the book closed once she stood up. Spike could definitely go without the more gruesome images stuck in his head.

“Erm, let’s just say that Applejack’s cupcake fiasco was nothing in comparison.” she answered awkwardly, avoiding going into greater detail.

“Well, in that case it has to be something really nasty.” Spike said.

Twilight didn’t answered to that. Spike was about to ask more questions, when the letter from the Princess arrived, forcing him to burp it out.

“Huh, that was fast.”

“What did you expect; she had a few thousand years to learn how to write quickly.” Twilight explained, opening the letter.

---

Dear Twilight

First let me tell you how proud I am to know that you care so much for your fellow ponies. I have to admit, I was going to ask if you could help in this dire situation, but I see you are already aware of the problem.

Leprosy is not something entirely new to Equestria. I can still remember the plague that ravaged the land four thousand years ago, as I was one of the few who could help those unfortunate enough that got infected by it. Unfortunately, even though we had a few thousand years at our disposal, we were never able to truly understand the nature of this calamity, to understand how it worked, and as a result we couldn’t come up with a cure for it. Even the discoveries of one as well versed in this matter as Louis Pasteur didn’t lead to any significant progress in developing a remedy.

Now however it seems that there is a small glimmer of hope. Gerhard Armauer Hansen, a doctor from the city of Flankfurt has recently made a discovery that might as well be the turning point in our fight with leprosy. He was able to determine which bacteria are responsible for the illness. Sadly, it still seems that it’s not enough to overcome this plague, as it proves resistant to Hansen’s treatment. That is why I am happy you volunteered to help; I want you to meet with doctor Hansen in Flankfurt and aid him in his fight with the plague.

I need to warn you however –the road to Flankfurt is a difficult one, especially at this time of year. There are no railroad connections leading to the town, and the winter storms slow down any attempts at travel. I will help you as much as I can, but even I cannot stop the blizzards of the far North.

I strongly discourage you from taking any of your friends with you on this journey. It may seem to be an odd request, as I tasked you with the study of the magic of friendship, but in light of the events unfolding in Flankfurt it is best they stay in Ponyville, less they run the risk of contracting leprosy. The risk is minimal, but its best we don’t tempt fate and limit the risks.

I will arrange for a stagecoach going to Flankfurt to be waiting for you in Canterlot. I will also contact doctor Hansen and inform him of your arrival. And again, My Faithful Student, it fills me with great pride knowing that you are willing to risk your own health for the fate of innocent ponies. I wish you the best of luck.

Your mentor and friend

Princess Celestia

---

“Well... It seems that I’m really going to visit Flankfurt.” Twilight said, once she read entire letter. “Thought I expected to go there to see the historical sites and monuments, not to fight a deadly plague.”

“It isn’t it dangerous Twi? I mean, you are going alone, without friends, and then there’s this lepra-thingy going on there... I don’t want to make a list of all the dangers you can encounter there. I’m... I’m worried about you.” her number one assistant said, his voice trembling with sadness and fear for his lifelong companion’s wellbeing.

“You’re right Spike, but all the things we did from the moment we came to Ponyville were in one way or another ‘dangerous’ too.” Twilight said soothingly. “I’m sure that I’m going to be fine. Besides, I’ll take all necessary books with me!” she added with what she thought was a reasuring smile, making her way towards the Medical portion of the library. Deep inside however she was as terrified as Spike was, maybe even more.

After a few moments most of of the contents of the bookshelf was placed in one big pile on the floor, a sheepish Twilight standing right beside it.

“Ups, guess I’m a bit overeager.” she said, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. In reality however, it was her fear that provoked a leaps in her concentration. Twlight looked at Spike and forced a smile on her lips. “Could you help me pack all this?”

“Yeah, sure.” said the small dragon, eyeing the pile of books. “I’ll go get the trunks.” And with that he went to search for the said piece of luggage.

He didn’t notice Twilight eyeing a copy of Diseases of Our World and rubbing her horn with her hoof.

Comments

[Verlax]

Friendly reminder :

For the love of Celestia, do not enter "Leprosy" in the Google Graphics. Seriously guys, don't do this.

[Verlax]

By the way, the description of Leprosy from The Diseases of Our World is slightly changed version of wikipedia one. Here is the link for original : *Click!*

Yes, Hansen is based on real character. *Click!*

I said it already, but I highly discourage you to check what Leprosy is on Google Graphics. Seriously guys, don't do this. My reaction was close to this :

[Spike the Scribe]

Am I the only one that was annoyed by FIMfic’s cash? No? Good, I was beginning to think I’m strange like that.

There’s a little typo in the fic I noticed after cross-referencing with scholar Google. Coltcuta should be written in fact Coltcutta, the double ‘t’ the way the original Calcutta is written in English. Aside from that I didn’t notice anything significantly off.

[Inky Jay]

This review brought to you by the group, Authors Helping Authors.

Fic: 2986 Steps
Grammar: 6, but considering English isn't your first language, this is dang impressive. I know a little German, and there's no way I could transcribe a fic in that language.

Pros: Disease in Equestria isn't a theme we see often, so the whole concept is refreshing.
Your emotional portrayal of the doctor in the prologue was spot on. Even though I know nothing of the source material, I could still feel the amount of emotion played into this portion.
There are subtle things throughout (such as using alchohol to keep warm) that show your fine attention to detail that make the fic a joy to read.

Cons: I'm not familiar with the source material, so that sort of cuts down on how much I can truly enjoy the story. However, this is more of a personal con and nothing against the actual story.
Even for the reasons Celestia mentioned in the letter and (for all I know) the necessity of Twilight to go alone due to the crossover nature of the story, I still didn't like that she was going alone. It would've been better if even only two or three had come along, but for Twilight to leave them all behind seems odd of her and Celestia. I mean, it is stressed several times that the liklihood of infection is minimal.
Although it's a little too early to call, I hope Primrose isn't a one-off character used to introduce the doctor and the premise. You did too nice a job developing her emotional state as a filly infected for that to be the case.

Notes: As a person who has seen pictures of leprosy before (don't ask why or where), I am incredibly impressed by your ability to not only describe the physical trauma of the infected, but also of the emotional trauma inflicted upon them and those that try to care for them. I really think that that is the most horrible part of any disease, and if what you've written so far is any indication, you understand and will impart it into this story.

Again, thaks for you review of both Who Is Daring Do? and Marks of Harmony.

Cheers!
Inky

[Showmare Trixie]

2249246

I don't really get grossed out, but in any case.

... I feel sorry for you, having to see that.

[Daedalus]

This review is brought to you on behalf of the group: Authors Helping Authors.
Name of Story: 2986 Steps
Grammar Score: 8.5 out of 10
Pros: Every emotion evoked is appropriate.
The canon characters seem accurately written so far.
Genuinely dark story.
Cons: Hit me right in the feels without warning.
Walls of text appear on occasion.
The dialogue is a bit awkward at points.
Notes: This story is well-written from the perspective of being dark, which is most certainly intended. I noticed the dialogue is awkward at points, though I couldn't be specific, unfortunately. Also, there are some walls of text, which you might want to look at.
I hope this helps you, and please check out my story when you get the chance: Unintended Consequences

[killingfrenzycreator]

2270736 I looked it up on Google Images. Nothing as bad as The Black Death, but still nasty.