Visitors
There's something to be said about prosthetics. Most of them are terrible. They're cumbersome, expensive paperweights that never do everything their user needs in order to feel normal again. A pale imitation that, while better than nothing, serves as a constant reminder of what you lost.
He hated them. But that's only most prosthetics. In his home world, that would've included all of them, even the most advanced ones. But here on Equus? In a land where magic is just as real as gravity? Things were different. In some ways worse, but in others, better, and he worked tirelessly to make it better still.
Anon finished screwing the pastel-blue hoof onto the filly’s stump, right below her withers. The parents—a scowling turquoise stallion stood behind him, and his partner, a worried, white unicorn sat off to the side—had been very hesitant in agreeing with the procedure. Osseointegration sounded very scary on paper, what with it requiring the installation of a metal rod into the leg bone, but after going through the benefits, they eventually yielded.
Though, that might've had something to do with the pleading look their baby blue daughter sent them.
Part of that fear was understandable. For a race that rarely, if ever, had to resort to surgery, the idea of having your daughter cut open by a stranger would be terrifying. But magic couldn't fix everything, and with how reliant ponykind was on the stuff, they were severely behind when it came to the technology side of things. Pony-made prosthetics were barely any better than medieval era ones, with rudimentary control and piss-poor dexterity, even with magic filling in the gaps for any missing joints. They would lag behind a user's wishes, provide no sensation, and ultimately fail to feel like an extension of the body.
So yes, Anon could understand why their daughter hadn't been happy with them.
“Alright, go ahead and give it a go. There might be a bit of pain when you first put your weight on it, but it should subside quickly,” he explained, scooting back from the bed. The enchantments running along the metal bar in her leg would ensure of that, once they activated and started feeding off the mare's natural magic reserves.
Anon watched as she hesitantly leaned off of the bed and pressed the newly attached foreleg onto the ground. The limb was clearly artificial, with none of the fur coating her real legs, but besides that and the openings where joints were housed, it was relatively inconspicuous. She winced, of course, but once the pain faded her expression quickly shifted into a look of wonder.
“I-I can feel it!” she exclaimed. Standing from the bed, she began stamping the leg up and down, her smile growing with each passing second. She giggled, hopping excitedly in place with a rhythmic clop, clop, clop. Even he cracked a smile at that.
“That would be because it's connected to the bone of your leg. The force of it hitting the ground is traveling up the limb and into your body, so it feels more natural than a regular prosthe–,” he stopped as he felt the filly wrap tightly around his leg. She buried her face into his pants, staining them with tears.
She looked up at him with a hiccuping, watery smile, “T-thank you, Mr. Anon!”
The girl's parents, seeing their daughter's reaction, smiled in relief. The wife looked at him.
“We can't thank you enough, Doctor. We haven't seen her this happy in… in I don't even know how long,” she said. The stallion next to her nodded mutely, not looking away from his daughter.
Anon hesitantly patted the filly’s head as he responded, “You are… quite welcome. I will say that with how much you two have paid, I don’t really think a thanks is necessary.” Their initial offer had been, quite frankly, ludicrous. The kind of money that would see him richer than most nearby towns. It had taken some time to talk them down to a more reasonable sum, but even then it was still far more than he was comfortable taking.
The mare snorted in amusement, “No amount of bits is worth more than our daughter’s happiness. You gave her that, and a thanks is the least we can give.”
From there the two unicorns gently coaxed their daughter into letting him go, after which he walked them back to his living room. Seating themselves—minus one giddy filly—Anon explained how to take care of the prosthetic; simple stuff like taking it off before bed, cleaning it, examining it for damage, etc. He also showed her how to extend it, so that as she grew she could continue to comfortably use it. Then he handed them a repair guide and a few other documents, all hand-written. Printers were unfortunately beyond him.
The wife went through them silently, with an ease that spoke of familiarity with paperwork. Her eyes widened as she examined the last few pages, however.
“Are these… blueprints?”
Anon nodded, “Yes. In the event that it's damaged beyond repair, I felt it prudent to include them so that you can have another made back home.” They were of course free to come to him for another, but there was a chance he wouldn't be around next time, either having moved away, or spontaneously died.
The mare glanced between him and the pages of meticulously copied diagrams like he'd gone insane. Finally, she found her voice, “You–... you know that we could–”
“Sell them? Make your own?” Anon nodded, “I'm aware. And I don't care. I'm not doing this for money, so if you wish to use my work for profit, feel free. All I ask is that you make them as easily obtainable as possible.” He had of course considered bringing his work to pony researchers himself, or even griffon ones, but it… wasn’t good enough. Not yet. Not to him. Not until they were perfect, and they could carry all the hope placed upon them.
“I… I see. If we–if we do, we will ensure that you are properly compensated, I swear it,” she nodded seriously, a strange emotion flickering across her face.
He believed her too. They had found him after all. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how much money they had dumped on searching for a solution to their daughter’s plight. Somehow, they had heard of his work all the way on the outskirts, nestled right between the Crystal Empire and Equestria. If anyone could find him again, it’d probably be the two obscenely rich nobles sitting across from him.
But that was fine. He made no effort to hide himself, so if they wished to use his research for profit and give him a cut, then more power to them. His prosthetics, while woefully inadequate compared to real limbs, were still far, far ahead of what ponykind had. They would easily be able to corner the market. The extra bits would certainly help his work, he supposed, but not nearly as much as one might think.
Anon received another hug from the filly, and, surprisingly, the mother, before they went. Outside, they boarded the elegant white chariot in front of his cabin.
He stood in the doorway as it left, kicking up dust all the way down the road, until he could see it no more.
Anon thought back to the smile of the filly as she hugged him. As if he had given her the world. As if he had given her her leg back. He didn't deserve that smile. It was just a hunk of metal, magic, and plastic; and despite what she had said, she couldn't really feel it. He doubted she would even be able to pick things up with it, like regular pony hooves could.
Anon sighed, rubbing at his eye. He needed a drink.
Anon stumbled back to his room. He'd have to head into town tomorrow, pick up more wine. Food as well, maybe. He could probably afford to import some meat from Griffonia now, instead of just eating produce from the market and what few fish he could catch from the nearby lake. That sounded nice. He was sick of salads.
The door to his bedroom opened. A wobbly Anon stepped through and closed it behind him. Sitting on his bed, Anon leaned down and pulled up the fabric covering his right leg, before unscrewing the prosthetic and letting it fall to the side. He then reached up and tugged the false nose free from his face and the glass eye from his socket, dropping them into a box on his end table. His left arm was slowly unstrapped from around his shoulder and dropped carelessly onto the floor.
The filly’s smile flashed in his mind before sleep took him.
Just a pale imitation…
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DAAWWWWWW
This story does a good job of handling the topic...well written and to the point.
Very good if a little sad. Bravo
I for one would be very interested in seeing you give this one a continuation.
Aside from that, seeing Anon's delving into the realm of magic to create the closest thing to a perfect prosthetic to help others as well as himself would be interesting to read about.
Hell, just him figuring out how to make a prosthetic for horns would be fascinating to see unfold ... .
Now, regarding this one-shot ... .
It has quite a nice blend of hopefulness--on the filly's end--and melancholia--on Anon's end--that gives this work a different feel compared to most.
11882909
Yes, THIS.
wonderful little story, bravo
Very very interesting story, I am sure that this could lengthen the story quite a lot with different ideas that some have given, and I am sure that the crown will invest a lot in the projects of Anon, it hurts that he doesn’t realize the good he could do with just the things he has and the potential he can create if he accepted the possible help they would give him
This is very good. More please.
Prosthetics mentioned. Instant thumbs up.
Edit: I’m really liking this story. I have a few stupid suggestions if you want to continue it.
One: double down on the tragic and have Anon spiral in his obsession for creating the identical part. Eventually he might realize that mechanical creations won’t cut it and he dabbles in dark magic for tissue sculpting. I’m already imagining a bio horror scenario where his left shoulder has a rapidly growing blastema, sending chaotic, neoplastic tendrils and bulbs out in a tumorous mess.
Two: keep the E rating and have Anon slowly grow to appreciate his work and how he helps those around him, and discovering how to love himself in the process… (yawn).
Three: a better third thing.
BIO HORROR BIO HORROR BIO HORROR!
I too, would enjoy seeing more of this
It's rare to find authors whose first posted work on this site is magnificent. Even moreso when that first posted work makes it to the top of the featured box.
Congratulations. You've earned it.
11882909
11883141
"Tanks for the Memories" had a few scenes where Tank's propeller stops and starts by itself, implying that he's controlling it mentally. Build that into a prosthetic limb, and you have all the fun of a brain-machine interface with none of the surgery. So you could either have Anon tear himself apart looking for a means of performing the necessary magic, or mellow out and partner up with a unicorn.
11882909
I'm imagining Tempest trying one out, only for it to explode under her full power.
First story and you knocked it out of the park Nice. Also great job on handling the topic. I had a feeling that Anon also had a prosthetics but not like 4 of them that was a shock.
This got a bit more popular than expected. I guarantee nothing, but I will be attempting to write some more for this, eventually.
I still want to get some work done on the other, bigger story I've been writing however, so I'm not sure when that might be.
For now though, thanks for all the
dopaminekind words <311883141
Four: becomes a world renowned miracle worker (or owner of a business) creating near perfect prosthetics for anyone who is in need. Honestly thatd be awesome. A story about slowly bypassing the restrictions that exist right now with magic and making something that'd be some semblance of a well functioning replacement would be awesome
I loved this beyond words and I was pleased to be the 100th upvote.
This is such a well-thought out short story. Love how you constructed this in a way that delicately shows the contrast between Anon and the filly--they both have different views of prosthetics and it's so... heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Thanks for writing this.
oh shit this is fucking amazing I thought it was just going to be about him making a new hand for himself in ponyville and twilight geeking out about his engineering skills but he's doing this for more than just himself, in the middle of nowhere to work and advance prosthetics undisturbed, a single minded determination to achieve more than just "good enough"
This was really good. Short but sweet. Great work on this one.
Those are a lot of different individual prosthetics.
What happened to this guy? And how did he appear in Equestria?
Good story, very nice work, word-smith.
Tattoo
This is easily the best Anon story that I’ve read.
This was really good Great work on this one
Masterpiece
as a person who has a prosthesis themselves, I understand how the man feels
This was really good. Anon deserves to be happy though. Want more if only for that, though honestly prosthetics have always interested me despite my (current) lack of any (thankfully) and I'd love to see what sort of other developments could be made combining modern prosthetic engineering with magic. Maybe he can finally make something that satisfies him so he can feel good when a patient hugs him after returning something once lost.
It has come to my attention that "prosthetic" refers to the field of research (or as an adjective referring to a limb), and "prosthesis" (prostheses for the plural) are the correct terms for the actual object.
So that's mildly embarrassing. Apologies.
That said I... kind of prefer prosthetic? Prostheses and prosthesis is kind of exhausting to say. Maybe I'll change it later, maybe not.
11883754
This is what I was wondering. I'd be curious to find out how he gained all of those prosthetics.
This makes me think of a short version of Follows A Spark. Where the guy is constantly striving for perfection not for himself, but for others. Nice short story.
11885642
You're the first person to mention that. I wouldn't say it directly inspired me (I wasn't really thinking of that story when I wrote this), but it definitely has a similar vibe. Would highly rec others check it out.
Very nice
A beautiful story. Like another commenter said, I was expecting Anon to have at least one prosthesis, but I wasn't expecting that. I've worn glasses since the third grade, in 1990, and they feel like a part of me. I literally cannot function without them.
I was definitely reminded of Follows a Little Spark, except this didn't take me days to read, and no awkward, forced "herding" with Celestia.
(That's still one of my fave stories.)
Congratulations on your first story blowing up in the Featured box!
👍
The door to his bedroom opened. A wobbly Anon stepped through and closed it behind him. Sitting on his bed, Anon leaned down and pulled up the fabric covering his right leg, before unscrewing the prosthetic limb and letting it fall to the side. He then reached up and tugged the false nose free from his face and the glass eye from his socket, dropping them into a box on his end table. His left arm was slowly unstrapped from around his shoulder and dropped carelessly onto the floor.
(twist) much?
Anyways, I was a bit turned off by the Anon tag at first. That was a mistake.
A huge mistake.
I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon to Anonymousville anytime soon, but this was wonderful. You could really feel the gratitude the filly had for what Anon did for her. I'll be happy to see what else you might decide to do with this idea.
Oh, please continue this!