When Redheart saw Melody stumble out of Green’s room in a panic, she just sighed. On the second shift of her double, her patience was beginning to fray.
“Alright Melody, what’s Green done now?” Asked Redheart, “Did she sprout wings? I really shouldn’t be surprised at this point.”
Redheart felt a little bad when her light-hearted jab failed to penetrate Melody’s panic. The pink mare grasped Redheart’s hoof and tried to drag her towards the patient’s room. Redheart had a feeling that it would be better not to have this conversation in front of the patient.
“Is this a medical emergency?” Redheart asked
“No, but-”
“Is Green having a panic attack?”
“Well... no-”
“Okay then, tell me what happened.”
Melody swallowed nervously. “Well I was giving Green a shower and she - and I - and she - I mean I, I think I touched her somewhere I wasn’t supposed to!”
The mare shrunk in on herself covering her mouth with a hoof as if she’d admitted to something unforgivable.
“So where did you touch her?” Redheart sighed again when she realised she wasn’t going to be leaving this shift on time.
“On the flank,” Melody explained, “I was showing her out of the bathroom, and - and she was so scared! She was shaking and then she apologised to me! Like she thought I would punish her for getting scared! It’s all my fault!”
“It’s all right Melody,” Redheart comforted, “You couldn’t have known she would react like this. You’re not the one who hurt her, you just found one of her triggers. Something about the situation must have made her relive a traumatic memory.”
Redheart walked towards Green’s room. “I need you to be calm, Melody, do you need a moment?”
“No.” Melody responded, “I’m fine.”
Green was lying on the floor next to a bed that had been raised so the linen could be easily changed. When she saw Redheart enter she rolled onto her back so she was looking at the nurse upside down.
“Whatever she told you is a lie, nothing happened.” The filly said in aggravation, “I was just shivering because I was cold after being in the shower.”
“Would it make you feel more comfortable if we pretended that’s what happened?” Redheart didn’t believe the filly for a second, “I know you feel embarrassed when you have reactions you can’t control.”
“Sure. Whatever.” The filly struggled to her hooves and Melody moved towards her but froze as she couldn’t decide whether she should lay hooves on her.
A look of agony crossed Green’s face as she tried to breathe through the pain in her broken foreleg, but she didn’t let out so much as a murmur as tears gathered in her eyes.
“How bad is the pain on a scale of one to ten.” Melody asked reflexively.
“I’m fine,” Green growled, “Don’t worry about it.”
“Green, please be honest,” Redheart pleaded, “We can help you with the pain, and we need to know if there’s something wrong with your leg.”
“I snapped my leg in two and now I’ve got metal screwed into my bones, it’s perfectly normal to feel some pain.” The filly said matter-of-factly, “What I need is for ponies to stop treating me like I’m crazy. I’m here because I broke my leg, my brain works just fine.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy Green,” Redheart said, “Something bad happened to you, and it wasn’t your fault, even if you feel like it is. You -”
“Nothing happened.” The filly insisted, “I’m fine. I just get anxious sometimes, and you ponies always assume it’s the worst possible thing. I can manage my anxiety just fine, I just need people to stop poking at it!”
“Are you ready for bed, Green?” Redheart asked, disengaging from the conversation that was distressing her patient.
Green looked back to the bathroom and the towels left on the floor.
“Yes.” The filly answered in a huff, but she couldn’t cross her forelegs due to the cast. She blinked adorably when she noticed this before returning to her scowl.
“You missed dinner,” Redheart explained, “Did you want some sandwiches from the fridge?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, if you change your mind, Melody will be right here. Is it alright if she stays?”
“Ugh, it’s fine! She didn’t even do anything, I just get scared for no reason sometimes. It’s not like I’m gonna die.”
“All right then, get some rest, Green.” Redheart instructed, “Melody, just keep an eye on her, and don’t forget to write in the notes.”
You know... Even if nothing actually happened to Green (and it's actually getting hard to not think of her as an actual abuse victim) it's kinda looking like she really does need help and support.
Seems believable
Yeah, Green isn't helping her case here. I understand her frustration, but her attempts to prove that she's fine, despite being in distress, are convincing everyone else that she's in distress, but not in a way that will actually help her.
Better to excuse the behavior as being startled. A lot of people can lose track of another individuals position relative to them if they aren’t focused.
This is as sad as it is amusing. Green certainly does need some help. Besides the whole "new species, new gender" thing, she's obviously got some serious issues that she's been bottling up for quite a while that seem to be bubbling up. The thing is, while she needs help, they'll be treating her for a "condition" that she doesn't have. So I'm curious as to how well their treatments will go. I mean, they may be missing the mark but at least their hearts will be in the right place.
Make bigger chapter.
That picture says "Melody needs a hug and some warm cocoa".
I get the feeling that the body of Green was abused before the new mind was placed. The reactions are probably still in them, and something probably did happen even if Green doesn't remember or know it now. The reactions are explained from Greens point of view, but it feels like they're forcing themselves to believe it is for the reason they think; which gives me the impression that Green is wrong about where the reactions are coming from.
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No don't, let him tell the story as intended please.
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media.discordapp.net/attachments/151255197644095488/679604120914624532/1931169.jpg
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How long have you bèn waiting to use that?
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I'd believe that if his own personal life in a previous chapter didnt indicate that he has some serious anxiety. He might be a bit ofa high functioning autistic, but I don't think so. He could just suffer from intense social anxiety, especially since he doesnt know how to react, but he is logical in his assessments. Hm...
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good point, makes me thinking. could be possible
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10/10
I don't know if it's just the style or not, but in the Pic, it looks like Melody is about to cry, it made me wanna cry, damn it.
Saying "I'm fine" when you are obviously not is Guy for
"Yes, there IS a problem but I want to handle it myself"
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Green contemplates the meaning of your existence
Thanks for the update!
I feel bad for melody
Yknow, if you’d been honest with Luna, you wouldn’t have to dig yourself out of this hole. But thats rational, and most people are anything but.
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Short update still > no update.
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Depending on the mood and the nature of interference it can also mean: "Yes, there IS a problem and I could get to work on at least TRYING to solve it if you weren't so bound and determined to prevent me from doing so. LET ME try to solve the problem. I do not need/want your help and sitting down to listen to you tell me how painful it looks is a waste of time I could be using to do something to possibly make it stop hurting."
Some help is welcome, whether we're in the mood to admit it or not. Some help is distinctly unhelpful.
No, that's not due to happen until next week.
But yeah, Green is really not helping herself here. It's amazing how you can calculate likely reactions one moment and just try to bull through without right denial the next. I've been in that sort of situation; it's a low-key sort of panic where you just want to shut down the topic by any means necessary. And so rarely do you consider the truth as an option in that state...
Looking forward to the case hearing. Should be fascinating to see.
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i.gyazo.com/e72ae01f77bce7272a22792fda3098fc.png
If Green had heard herself at that moment she'd easily realize how much bullshit that is. Misunderstandings leading to wrong'ish assumptions aside, Green needs psychological help for a shitload of issues. The fact she looks like she's to antagonist and lacking practically any self esteem at all do make things extremely harder though.
This story must NOT be easy to write, kudos for you to be brave enough to do it. It's a good one too, I'll certainly follow it to completion.
I. LOVE. THIS. STORY!!!
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I had this in my mind https://youtu.be/5AxwaszFbDw?t=19 but just replace the logo with chapter
@author: I like shorter chapters way more than no chapters. Please go at the pace you feel is good for you and thanks for writing this awesome and cute story.
The more I read this, the more suspicious I become that Green might be an unreliable narrator, at least to a certain extent, regarding her backstory. I don't doubt that she has human memories (needing to learn to use a new body and previous medical knowledge don't come out of no-where), but I think there might be more to this filly than popping out of thin air with another person's memories. Anyway, Thanks for the update, love this story, keep up the good work!
The plot thickens! And now... more waiting!
I wonder if a Changeling would be a perfect mate for her. Knowing ones emotions must be very epic to make friends and getting/holding lovers/mates.
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Yep. Thats why Im following this: this is the kind of stupidity only a real person could do. Hell, I’d probably do something equally retarded. The big thing is that this guy can even write this: id be very hesitant to so brazenly display my flaws and underlying issues.
Props, kudos, and my salutations to ya.
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I was hesitant to be so open, but I feel like I'm at least pseudo-anonymous here so that's a level of safety. I have trouble being honest with therapists after an experience I had with one breaking confidence when I spoke to them as a teenager. And I just have self-image issues when I'm speaking with someone face to face.
Talking about 'myself' as a little pony in magical pony land feels much safer, and doing it with an audience keeps me thinking about how to explain things so other people would understand.
I don't want people to think I'm fishing for sympathy, but I do appreciate the support people have been sending my way. If I gave people a chance in real life maybe they would be supportive too, but even the thought of opening myself up like that fills me with dread.
I feel like I owe an extra comment, because while I have been informing you how well the story is written and how brilliantly engaging it is, I have unintentionally forgone my acknowledgement to how difficult it may be to write this story in the first place. So thank you for the small updates, I appreciate the effort you are putting into this story.
That's the horrible thing about trying to prove a negative; everyone seems it's just that negative thing you apparently have that's making you say that. Reminds us about that Ted talk about the psychopath-studying guy. One story related about how a guy managed to get himself checked into an institution (reasonably of sound mind, mind you) and in short order despite his maintained sanity he can't be released because "that's just the psychopathy speaking".
Best of luck!
Keep going! ;)
"I just need people to stop poking at it!"
Was that done on purpose (and the nurses didn't catch it?)
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It was, and she's don't that a couple times now.
But she's also revealed that her parents weren't ponies so...
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Yeah, you're right. Though instead of garnering sympathy it just seems exasperating, because its repeated over and over, never qctually going anywhere. Green flails uselessly, never makes any sort of attempt or progress towards anything, and everyone around him says that he is just a poor confused sexually abused filly. That's this story's main flaw, it just drags on in sections without anything really happening. It honestly after q certain point makez me think that nothing ever CAN get better, because that would mean they can't all just wallow in misery repeatedly, whoch by now seems to be the authors' main goal.
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Green really isn't interested in getting help and is actively trying to avoid it. She has been awake and aware of what's going on in the hospital for literally less than one day.
If you're expecting Green to just get over it in the next few chapters and go on to become a hero who saves Equestria then I've done a really bad job at signalling what kind of story this is supposed to be.
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Its been less than a day? That's news, from how many chapters there had been I thought he had been there for several days. And what made it seem like I was expecting some rapid recovery and subsequent high flying heroism? I'm just annoyed that the story seems to deliberately trying to never go anywhere. If its just been one day, that kinda shows my point. Each chapter is then, what, one scene? And in every one Green is thought to be a pitiful little damaged foal by people who will never believe them, and in each Green will just sit there miserable and do nothing.
The one problem with this story, as I have said before, is that it keeps stalling. It doesn't seem to have any ontention of going anywhere or doing anything, or having any sort of event happen other than the protagonist being miserable and pitied, over and over.
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I think you may have missed all the events that happened the same way you missed the fact that this all happened in the same day.
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sometimes stories have a slow burn friend. Give it time. Let more chapters come out before condemning the story. I am sure you have not noticed the potential plotline that might save him. Very early on Green reveals she has not feared her dreams since she was 12. This implies she was even older. Later on, the medical report lists her as much younger. If my memory serves me well I think 9. This could serve as at least a basis for her argument when she does reveal the truth and may have been why luna was suspicious. Imagine a tiny kid coming to you implying to be a teen. Under any circumstance, this must at least pass as odd. In a magical world like this, it could leave enough doubt that combined with her medical knowledge she might just convince everyone yet.
Keep in mind though she has not taken notice of this either. It may come up abruptly during the case potentially. It may also surface later.
Anon3mous1, even if the age discrepancy was not intentional please roll with it. It could actually work surprisingly well in an argument for Greens favor IMO.
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There's actually quite a number of discrepancies, chief among them being Green's magic. Green is just really pessimistic about trusting other ponies.
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Do not worry. it happens. At least your writing remains in the same tense or rarely switches. In my first published chapter, I was bouncing back and forth between the present and past tense almost every single paragraph. I did not notice until someone pointed it out. That was a rather awful read until I went back and edited it.
Your story definitely shows that you have a much higher skill level than my own. About the only thing I have over you is how easily prolific I can be. It helps my writing when I can pop on some music and just watch my story play out like a movie in my head. I am almost just the narrator along for the ride. It is a crazy method of writing but it fits me.
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I meant deliberate discrepancies with Green's claiming not to remember anything, but yeah, there are errors, that's why I have an editor, and also why the story is on revision 1.1
Gosh this must be just frustrating for green, I know I would have just lost my temper immediately
wow i think my OC have similar conditions but more in glitchie terms
Interesting thought. Green mentioned that she's got metal screwed into her bones. Do the ponies even do that? If not, that's going to make it sound like she was taken care of some creatures who don't have easy access to magic, at the very least.
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Or chose deliberately not to use magic. It could be taken a few ways really, but it would raise more questions.
Now wouldn't that be funny
OH, SHE SLIPPED UP!!!