wtf? So words become like contaminated data files? open the wrong one and  you could become infected?

Interesting concept, definitely putting on my read later list

Very nice, original concept. I don't want to say anything spoilery because I know some people read the comments first, so I'll just say that I like this.

low blow

must be a pain to relearn

Hoooooo, that was a good read. Although it's got similarities to a plot where the person has amnesia, can't say I've seen it done like this before.

Good job. Faved and liked

That was... Creative. I would never thought of something like that.

I kind of fell sorry for Twilight. But knowing her, she will be reading again in no time.

Very unique concept and executed pretty nicely, too. I probably wouldn't have minded it if it were a bit longer, but you did tell the whole story nonetheless and it was an interesting read. Good work!

I quite enjoyed this. I'll likely be parroting some above commentors, but the concept really is very original. And, as Zay-el said, I wouldn't have minded it being longer. Perhaps you could add the perdicaments of the other Mane 6 and such, as mentioned in your blog entry on the story?

I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying the story. I want to thank Spabble for being a great proofreader. :D

>>696548696548

That's the plan. :D

>>696555696555

Wonderful! I'll be eagerly awaiting those whenever they're ready.

Not enough thumbs and favorites in the world. Wonderful story!

Well done - an incredibly unique story with a interesting, yet terrifying concept. I can't imagine if I suddenly couldn't read though, it would take away so much.

Words have incredible power, even more so if they take on a life of their own, as many stories do - but what you have done here is taken that concept and twisted it in a way that highlights the true capability of the written word.

The only way I can think to improve this would be to add a bit more depth to the situation, maybe some more descriptions and hint of dark to bring out the undertones of power. Then, you would have something wonderful - though there's not much that needs improving as it is!

I commend you on this, good work!

Frostwyrm

There's one fun thing about having a cold (or strep, in my current case) and that's my temporary Don Lafontaine voice!

The cover art featured in the drawfriend is doing it's job, I will be sure to give this a read later.

A very clever story and well written.  I'm going to keep my eye on you.  I expect great things from you in the future.

Reminds me of a Stephen King novel, only in that story it involved mobile phones carrying viruses.

I must read this.

There's no such thing as curses! Ha, one of my favorite episodes.

In any sense, interesting concept. The writing is quite good and I liked it. One thing though, when Twilight was wondering what was going on in the kitchen and Mrs. Cake suddenly contracted the symptoms, Twilight was automatically like "It's contagious."

I feel as though you could have dragged that out a bit longer before sort of rushing to conclusions in a way...

Don't listen to my criticism though, I don't know what I'm doing and I still like the story!

And now I have, and it is an excellent story. Have a thumb, a watch, a tracking on your other story, and an entry on my user page wall of great stories.

Very intriguing. You have gone and done us proud, writer. Now go, and write even greater, original stories!

That was brilliant.

Turn Off Your Mind - Electric Wizard

That was surprisingly good! I admit, the concept pulled me in from the start (and the picture helped, too), so I was more than eager to start reading. I'm very glad I took the twenty minutes to read it, because it was fun. It was a very original piece that explored something I had never even considered before. It didn't outstay it's welcome, and it wrapped up quite nicely. Awesome job with this, I loved reading it.

This was beautifully written, with a great concept, compact plot and lovely bittersweet ending.

This is the most creative thing I've read in a while. Fantastic job.

I love this fic, it's storyline is definately unique and enjoyable.

Awesome concept, can't wait to see how this progresses and what a great plot to focus around Twilight!

Very interesting!

Well. That was something. I eagerly await more.

Also...Star Swirl hating plums? Reminds me of another incredibly intelligent being...

Very good. The concept was interesting and well executed. And I've decided that the idea of Star Swirl the Bearded hating plums is perfect and am adding it to my headcanon and, unless you have a problem with it, my fic as well.

>>704875704875

HaHa... Go for it, fellow writer. Darn the plums! Full speed ahead!

Very orginal.

That was amazingly novel. Thumbs up and favorite.

Very good story, thoroughly enjoyed it, very original plot and it was organised in such a way and of such a length that it felt like it could easily be made into an episode!

Love it!

Interesting concept even if it was a bit shorter than I would have hoped.  nice light reading though.  The irony of this story adds to the amusement.

And bring Ye not plums here. I'll be honest, I lol'd.

This is highly entertaining and well written. I love your idea of word curses. Though I must say, It's surprisingly short. Short, but good. Well done!

an thick omnibus,

* a thick omnibus,

Spike shoved the large book into a gap just barely large enough

overuse of large

WHAT?!? Celestia on a cracker, that was dramatic. I'm so reading all of this.

>>705147705147

Oi. Thanks for letting me know about those mistakes. I was just changing a few words in the opening paragraphs last night when the EQD floodgates opened. Shows the result of moving quickly on cold medicine. ;)

Also... *ahem*

I'M IN THE FRICKIN' FEATURE BOX?!?!?!

>>704356704356

It's already Complete

the pen is stronger then sword. Well, in must situvations.

Good story! Very original!

O.O S-she can't read?!

All of my sads...

Image: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LO4qcGPBLbs/Twyx68HezFI/AAAAAAAAak0/_o7mHmjgaiU/s1600/110087+-+artist+zlack3r+artist+zlacker+book+crying+filly+sad+twilight_sparkle.png

I knew why he said no plums! Come on, Twilight! You're smarter than that!

/is very disappoint

I am kinda disappoint at the lack of comments! This was an EXCELLENT short story! Great job!

this interests FireFlash. tracking.

This could perhaps be the single most original concept I have ever seen. Tracking immediately.

          ~Signed, InfiniteBrony

this was cute very episode like but I do have to point out..

that this isn't that original there is a horror movie on a similar subject expt its spoken words rather than written

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontypool_(film)

Is this inspired by this movie (can't remember the name), where people became "zombies", because the english language was infected by unknown virus?

>>705424705424

That book/movie was brought to my attention in the comments on EQD. I'd never heard of it before, but even that is predated by the book Snow Crash which used a similar idea six years prior. The Guardian's words are similar to the nam-shub of Enki from Snow Crash. But I got the idea from the title alone, with helpful input from my 8-year-old daughter.

Humans are quite good at spotting similarities. (Ponies too, most likely.)

>>705455705455

Because if there's one thing this fandom's all about, it's crossing ponies with everything else. Gets to a point where I'm assuming a crossover at the slightest similarity, no matter how obscure or ill-fitting

Anywho, it's a very lovely little tale you've crafted here. I, like others, would've prefered it to be a bit longer, but you were still able to craft a very fascinating and compelling narrative here. Really loved this style of the idea, as well as the fact that there wasn't a total snap-back at the end (poor Twilight. But, with her attitude, I'm sure she'll be back to her normal reading level in just a few sleepless nights). Awesome job overall.

>>697842697842

Good comparison. and the story is called Cell

Like a lot of people has been saying, this is a really neat and unique idea. However, I wouldn't have made the description so spoilerrific. It's a perfect summary of the first chapter - which is precisely half of the entire story! Add to that the image paired with it, (props for hiring FoxinShadow, by the way) which spoils what happens in the second half of the story. There wasn't much that happened in this story that I didn't already see coming. I have a running fic on EQD that's going into it's 20th part, and the description for that is a mere two sentences:

"While studying advanced magic techniques, Twilight stumbles upon a powerful spell that nopony has ever conceived. What will it cost her to possess this power, and what will it cost her friends?"

Note that it doesn't even mention what the spell is that Twilight figures out, let alone what the implications of learning it are. Heck, it doesn't even clarify whether or not she even uses it. That way, my readers are already going into part one with a mystery to figure out before they even start.

>>705721705721

Actually, I dithered over how much to put in the synopsis. Some novels I've read have very limited synopses, some contain amounts of foreshadowing similar to what I used in mine—a balance between mysterious and interesting. It's turning out that the synopsis as-is has been instrumental in pulling in some readers, or so I judge by the comments here and on EQD, so I think I chose right. Maybe for my next story I'll give less away and see how that goes by comparison.

For now, I think of it as telling you where the journey is going, then bringing you along for the ride.

Great story (congrats on the feature)! I enjoyed the intrigue surrounding the first installment and fact that Twilight had to give up something she loved for the good of all ponykind (or at least the literate ponies)

>>696359696359 Not for twilight. She got the best wish ever. She got to read everything, forgot how to read, and now gets to reread them all again without being bored!

Reminds me of Pontypool.

Anyway, interesting concept.

Also, I agree with the above commenters. Try cutting some spoilers out of the synopsis. The first chapter kind of just dragged on because I already knew what was going to happen, and was just waiting for it to end.

Loved it

you know what got this vibe from it : QUICK GET THE DIGIMON

Personally I think you got the synopsis right, because it's what drew me to read the story. And boy am I glad I did! Great stuff!

Like a couple of others I think it could have been a bit longer then it is, but what we did get was great. Thanks for sharing. :)

its a very good thing equestria has no fan fiction, otherwise this would have took on some interesting tags

I love it!

.... just wish there was more. I love Twilliterate.

Oh that was really well done.

I wasn't certain where you were going from the description other than Twilight having no choice but to protect herself by losing the ability to read. It was a good reason why instructive writing had suddenly become hazardous, and how Twilight had to deal with a crisis without the one thing about herself she prized more than her magical ability.

Also I really liked that one little thing you threw in there. It sounded very much like the frusterated addendum of somone who had seen what he treasured most being threatened. *Snicker* Plums.

That title for chapter 2... It makes me wince. Very good story, but I'm now imagining myself if I were unable to read......I need to go lie down.

Nice! I really enjoyed this, quite an interesting concept.

>>706154706154

But does ANYONE get the joke for chapter one's name? (I'm probably dating myself with that one.)

The way this plays out really reminds me of Doctor Who, specifically some of the Tenth Doctor's episodes. I see from your bio that you read a lot of scifi, but do you happen to also be a Whovian?

Edit: Now I can only think of one thing: "It's not the books, is it? I mean, it can't be the books, can it? I mean, books can't be alive!"

>>706249706249

Tom Baker is best pony!

Great little story here, makes for a pretty cool D&D idea

Have you by any chance seen a movie called "Pontypool"?

>>706391706391

Other commenters have asked that question, but no. I'd never heard of Pontypool until it was mentioned here.

>>706418706418 Your story definitely has the same creepy/exciting vibe as that movie. Love it.

Terrific story! I enjoyed it a lot and am looking forward to whatever you write in the future.

A terrific story, I like how it managed to execute a new plot idea in such few chapters. (I could use some more mane 6 shenanigans however )

Also, the great cover pic and description - those thigs definitely pull a reader in (plus it's fine the way it is, you do have to reveal something about the story if you don't want to make it sound like anypony else's).

I'm watching you... like an hungry reader.

>>706246706246

I'm guessing that the original note would have been followed by, "What's your function?" If I'm right, that's not really a dating thing. I remember watching all of those videos.

I noticed that first, but it isn't as witty as the second chapter's title.

>>706715706715

Agreement. Yeah, they do play those still here and there, btu they were new when I saw them. The second title is a better pun though.

Wow,

that title... genius on so many levels.

I will defiantly be reading this.

~Syn3rgy

This was really good, it felt like a Dr. Who story.

>>706736706736

Okay, new is definitely dating you a bit, yeah.

I must thank you for that groaner of a pun, though. I found the Wiki page with a list of all the songs and I'm now replaying EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. And I'm singing along.

I don't think I've matured at all in the years since I first watched one of the videos.

woooo

I actually found this after I saw Fox post his amazing cover art for it on Tumblr. It's good to know that the story and the art are of the same excellent quality!

The idea was neat, and I think you pulled it off quite well!

This story...

Image: http://pinkie.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/133602796360.gif

Was lurking this story on /fic/. Glad to see it doing so well. Congrats!

I almost cried. that was disgustingly cruel....Pinkie enslaved to baking cupcakes...Rainbow Dash speaking articulately...Worst of all, Twilight becoming illiterate...that's like me becoming deaf to music...or losing my legs so i can't run Cross Country....i'm depressed..

Wonderful story by the way, it's beautiful

This is a beautiful story...i like to over-think things, but this has a incredibly beautiful lesson, and i have astronomical expectations for the end of this story...easily a favorite.

I wish I had come up with this idea...

Great story and idea

damned divine story

This... this is something I like immensely. You have done very, very well.

This was a really great fic and I really enjoyed seeing it develop, I love what you did with the 'virus' in the end!

>>706938706938 What this guy said.

that's actually really sad

Really good =D

THIS SHOULD BE IN THE SHOW

Hmmm... Are Twilight's gray eyes in the cover picture due to the illiteracy curse?

dear me this does sound intriguing

>>707421707421

Um... If I say "yes" will that keep it from looking like I... forgot to color her eyes?

(Is it too late to fix that, do you think? )

>>707697707697 I'd prefer a visual effect of the curse over colored eyes

I love this story so much and I feel so bad for Twi. Her most favoritest thing in the world had to be stripped away from her so she could save it. But, then again, she gets to relearn everything and that seems to make her extremely happy.

Memetic contamination. Fascinating. And the vaccine is, if anything, worse than the disease. *shudder*

Great work. Thank you for writing this.

For such a short story, it packed a punch!

Wonderful idea, wonderfully written.

Oh... oh wow!

This is... depressing! I mean, hopefully by the end Twilight will find a way to undo the curse, but I mean Jesus! This is almost as detrimental to her identity as if she'd snapped her horn off!

Bravo, seriously. The premise alone got me reading, but the punch to the gut that is the end of this first chapter is the hook that ensures I'll read the whole thing.

And if you DO make the illiteracy curse permanent... then fuck you, you magnificent bastard That notion might just make me take up drinking to get my mind off something that sad.

Good thing nopony was reading cupcakes or a clop fic!