In a world full of magic, mere words can pose a deadly threat. When simply reading a sign can instantly infect the unwary, and cases start to turn up all around Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle casts the only spell she can find that can give her the time she needs to find the cause of the plague. But then she has to figure out how to stop the epidemic... without being able to read.
Editing provided by Spabble
If you like this, try Rainbow Typhoon
Audiobook on YouTube and for download on SoundCloud
Spanish version translated by MIkimoco
Russian version
Chapters (3)
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
696548
That's the plan. :D
696555
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.
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.
704875
HaHa... Go for it, fellow writer. Darn the plums! Full speed ahead!
Very orginal.
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.
705147
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?!?!?!
704356
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...
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?
705424
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.)
705455
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.
697842
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.
705721
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.