• Member Since 5th Dec, 2018
  • offline last seen 10 hours ago

SockPuppet


I like writing about the worst day of a character's life; it lets us see the mettle inside. (Pronouns: RB/20 )

Comments ( 41 )

To me, much of this story feels keenly observed, even if you must have had to combine your direct observations with a very realistic imagination to see parts of it, like some of the funny little events that naturally happen with a little pony visiting a human hospital. Much of the humor seems well founded on what happens in a world that just incidentally so far as we know doesn't exist (and don't bother me right now with someone's theories about how their relationship with their pony waifu is real... :trollestia:)

I think I pm'd you already about the relatively small fraction of your story's words that I thought could use more development, though...or could have been cut to avoid having to develop them more, either way.

"I pulled two sweetie belles. Fluorescent tubes and a microwave oven."

I guess "pulling a Sweetie Belle" is commonly used around Ponyville these days.

Aww. 10/10, would smile and be sad again.

Sweetie twirled in a circle, her volunteer vest flapping. "Don't worry! Unlike pegasi, unicorns are hypoallergenic, and I took a shower with unscented shampoo this morning."

This is such an amusing little factoid. I wonder which camp Earth Ponies fall into?

The hospital staff should have read the list: Things Sweetie Belle Is Not Permitted To Do
1. Use the microwave oven.
2. Help anybody use the microwave oven.
3. Be in the room while the microwave oven is in use.

I was a nurse by profession, and I worked pediatrics on occasion...

I'd pray to God Almighty that there were Sweetie Belles to go to pediatric oncology for the kids...

That little filly is brave. It's not like it was when I was working starting in the 80's. But St. Jude hasn't figured out everything yet, and some cancers just refuse to cooperate...

Get out that "Equestrian Pink Heart of Courage", and have Luna put it on her.

She earned it. And the subsequent award clusters. Because it takes all Six Elements inside someone very special to do what she's doing...

I feel like a visit from a cute filly of the Magical Marshmallow Pastel Pony variety would be very good therapy.

11565263

I guess "pulling a Sweetie Belle" is commonly used around Ponyville these days.

Oh yeah. It's lower case to emphasize the verbiness.

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This is such an amusing little factoid. I wonder which camp Earth Ponies fall into?

No telling!

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Things Sweetie Belle Is Not Permitted To Do

Hahahahhahahahaaa rippppp

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Because it takes all Six Elements inside someone very special to do what she's doing...

Oh yeah. The nice thing about fiction is my characters can be tougher than I am.

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I feel like a visit from a cute filly of the Magical Marshmallow Pastel Pony variety would be very good therapy.

It really would!

Cute.

Sweetie Belle in a human hospital . . . something that will go surprisingly well or surprisingly poorly.

You appreciate that this is different from your time candy striping at Ponyville Hospital?

I'm imagining that in Equestria it's literal; she worked in the kitchen painting stripes on candies they'd give to sick ponies.

"Sorry, hun, the sensors aren't calibrated to service animals." ... The old woman pointed at a panel to the left with a large stainless-steel button. "There's an override."
The button was well above Sweetie's or Bradley's reach.

#ponyproblems

unicorns are hypoallergenic

I couldn't remember if IRL equines are or aren't . . . they aren't.

She knitted angrily.

:rainbowlaugh:

"They keep giving me radiation, but no superpowers yet. Maybe I'll learn to levitate?"

At least Tommy's got a good outlook.

"I didn't know I would be allergic to Lysol. We don't use Lysol at home, we use magic."

I could see there being a lot of interesting an unexpected allergens for ponies (and vice-versa).

Hospital microwaves bring back memories . . . spent some time in my youth in hospitals when my dad was visiting sick parishioners and didn't have anyone to leave me with. Luckily I was easily amused with a bag of microwave popcorn and a few out-of-date magazines to read.

"Call me Derek's Brother, who isn't sick and therefore isn't important enough to rate his own name," said the boy.

I've heard this being a complaint of siblings of sick kids--not the name, literally, but the sick one gets all the attention and the healthy one is ignored.

"Oh, uh, me and cooking..."

Yeah. . . .

the janitor vacuumed her horn and the hose attachment sucked down onto the top of Sweetie's skull, enveloping her horn.
"Ow! My brain!"

Poor Sweetie.

"I'm playing one hundred fifty CC difficulty. Can you keep up?"
Sweetie pranced in and grinned. "I can drop down to that level for one day."

Sweetie gamer? I can get behind that.

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Source

"He- he- he- his mom said he won't go home."

Well, that hit right in the feels. I think that would be one of the hardest things of working at a children's hospital.

Amazing story

Added to the group

Admiral Biscuit's Fleet
Signal Boosters folder
:duck:

That cover image looks like the front of the Childrens Hospital in Columbus Ohio.

Dan

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Sweetie and Button have been Ponyville's unstoppable gaming duo for, like, ever!

I like what you did here, this was a fun read. The interactions between Sweetie and the other characters were great, and I loved how she's so determined to be there for the kids and cheer them up, even after that tearful ending. All in all, this was a really wholesome fic, and I really enjoyed it.

11565263

I guess "pulling a Sweetie Belle" is commonly used around Ponyville these days.

Though the fire brigade would really rather it wasn't.

Dan

It's a good thing the traditional Candy Striper uniform has fallen out of use and she just got a vest to wear.

Rarity would have had a conniption over red and white vertical stripes on a white coat and forbade Sweetie from wearing it, and then suffer some Cute Mark derangement as her feelings conflicted with her supporting generosity.

I need to see if our local hospital would have openings for volunteers of this nature. I could take in some of my drawing supplies and/or pony books to read to patients. Yeah it wouldn't be easy work, and sometimes there wouldn't be a happy ending, but it would be worth it if I could help in some meaningful way even just a little bit.

About the Firefly lunchbox...

I did see it. And I smiled at the time.

The poignant tone of the story had almost all of my attention...

But now that you drew my attention to it...

Which character of Firefly does she most relate to?

Skip Mal and Jayne right off the bat, for reasons. Inara too, because; https://www.fimfiction.net/story/524038/sweetie-bot-needs-an-upgrade

So...Zöe? Nah. Kaylee? Yes for some...hopefully no for that one thing...

Wash? Nuh-uh. Simon? Square peg in the round hole. Shepherd Book? Not philosophical enough...

River?

The awesome destructive power of a telepathic enhanced superweapon that could be tossed into a room full of Reavers and can walk away unscathed, leaving it fetlock deep in blood and filled with Cuisinart-ed bodies???

"Oh dear Buddha, please bring me a pony and a plastic rocket..."

Comment posted by Walabio deleted Apr 26th, 2023

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Dude. My brother in Celestia.

This story is E-for-everyone rated. You can't say M-rated stuff in the comments or the mods will go all moderatery.

Deleting comment.

This hit right in the feels, SockPuppet. Excellent story!

Minecraft? Hard no. Her buildings always caught on fire, even if she used obsidian.

This makes me want to see a story where Sweetie Belle and the rest of the Crusaders are QA testers and somehow mange to break games in ways that shouldn't even be possible.

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My brother in celestia
...im gonna use that

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Vaya... con Lúna.

11568369
And that means...
Celestia damnit i wish i knew A second language

Ah, destructive pony allergies. I do appreciate how this is something of a subtheme in your work. (At least it wasn't Flurry Heart this time.)

"I am Golgotha Darkness," said the girl.

This is a relatively normal name for a pony, albeit one that might get your parents on a watch list.

"Call me Derek's Brother, who isn't sick and therefore isn't important enough to rate his own name," said the boy.

Oh no, the fictional character's become self-aware! :twilightoops:

I pulled two sweetie belles.

Oof. It's really bad when someone uses their own name as shorthand for something going disastrously awry.

Oof. Yeah, there's a definite bittersweet undercurrent to this one that surfaces at the end. Good work it both the shenanigans and the more heartfelt moments. Thank you for this.

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thank you! Glad you enjoyed.

Today I learned that people still use mercury in lightbulbs. Why.

Also, the ending gave me feels.

11569767
It's more common in old bulbs that never get turned on and off and therefore have long lifetimes, like in a hospital, than in new nowadays.

Mercury has a unique-on-the-periodic table combination of vapor pressure and atomic emission lines.

11568058
That was a breed which some sources said was hypoallergenic and other sources said was not. I didn't go on a deep dive and am in no way an expert, so while I don't know I think it would be safer to assume that equines are not hypoallergenic.

Having said that, I have a cat allergy but it doesn't seem to be all cats; I've never been professionally studied so I don't know what makes me okay with one cat and not okay with another. Long-haired cats seem to be the worse and shorthaired cats better, and I've also noticed anecdotally the ones that are the most friendly to me are also the ones I have the most reaction to; I assume this is because cats are bastards.

11568370

And that means...

"Go with Luna"
The original expression is "Go with God" and I can't remember the Spanish . . . the version I usually say is "Vaya con queso" which means "go with cheese."

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cats are bastards :rainbowlaugh:
Some are, some aren't. Glad for the barn-cats they're friendly and great mousers.
Maybe it's something about curly hair. Poodles are supposed to by hypoallergenic, too.

I am so proud to be in a fandom that has such stories in it.

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Plus fluorescent bulbs already have a much longer lifespan than incandescent bulbs. Newer installations typically use LEDs (which last even longer and use even less power), but the up-front cost is such that many places aren't in a rush to upgrade.

Dan

11568145
Even if you're not Sweetie Belle, it's surprisingly common for players to try to open a door or chest or the crafting table menu, but are standing a little too far away, and have a lava bucket in hand, while the cat is sitting right next to them, from the streamers I've seen. (For me, it was a firework in hand. I wonder how many players can say they've seen the death message for a pet dying to a firework. I definitely reloaded a backed up save for that one).

At any rate, I'm glad The Aether finally updated. I bet Sweetie and Button are excited and getting together to load up their old world once again.

Incidentally, I named my reddish-brown mule "Button Mash," and I learned the hard way that Snowy Slopes biomes are evil, and to never try to ride across them. I also reloaded a backed up save after that misadventure. And then cheated to give myself a hundred lava buckets and covered that entire cursed area.

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