• Member Since 11th Nov, 2017
  • offline last seen Yesterday

Antiquarian


Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. Those who do study history are doomed to watch other people repeat it.

Sequels3

E

Actions speak when words fail.


Now with sequels (can be read in any order, though it's best to start with 'My Neighbor'): Their Neighbors, My Neighbor's War, and My Neighbor's Neighbor

Picture from Creative Commons by Corey Taratuta.

Original characters are my own creation. My Little Pony and its contents are the property of Hasbro, Inc. and its affiliates. Please support the official release.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 62 )

Indeed it is, indeed it does.

A truly wonderful story. Excellent work. Have a fave and a follow.

...while he questioned some of their more colorful hair styles...

:rainbowhuh: "Hey, this is natural!"
:ajsmug: "Easy there, Rainbow. Mr. Arrow's good people. He's just from another time."

In any case, a beautiful story of basic human goodness. Evil triumphs when good men do nothing. Ergo, do something. Thank you for a most touching read.

A beautiful story beautifully written. I have no higher praise.

My great grandfather served in WW2 and Korea for the US Navy he was a kind soul to my memory but he died when I was eight

This was beautiful sir, thank you so much for writing this story and for your message. It cannot be repeated enough.

Very nice. Just what I needed today.

After going in thinking the shovel would dig a grave, this was a much happier sad fic than I expected

One of the very few stories where the author's note might be even more beautiful than the piece itself. Thanks for writing this.

I wasn't ready to cry today!!! I came in here expecting some mr. Rodgers. I got something even nicer. Thank you. And thanks to your neighbor, for being the kind soul that he is and inspiring this masterpiece that truly made me cry tears of joy.

I'm afraid it hasn't restored my faith in humanity, but, its a big step in the right direction.

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All part of my nefarious plan to convince people to shovel their neighbors' walks in the hopes that one of you lives next to me.

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Such a restoration is seldom a single event. It wasn't for me. Simply a thousand little steps towards realizing that the world was brighter than I thought. My neighbor was one such step for me on a number of occasions. I try to pay it forward by being one for others.

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He sounds like he was a good man. I'm sorry you didn't have him for longer.

Absolutely beautiful. I wish I was able to be neighborly and have fun times with mine, but all my neighbors are jackasses and never leave their houses >:(

Pros

  • Really well written
  • Brings in the feels hard
  • Bittersweet as all hell
  • Really well written
  • Beautiful Author's note
  • perfectly ended
  • I re-read it twice on principle of not wanting to miss anything its so good.

Cons

  • Its too short

Wasn't sure what to expect of this.
The story was good and comforting to read (and long enough as it needed to be).
It was the author's note that was really touching, from start to finish. There are so many good people in the world, and this was a wonderful example, and I'm so glad you have good people in your life. I hope your neighbor is doing well, he deserves it.

It's 9:45 at night where I live. And I feel... happiness. Thank you for writing this.

GODDESS DAMNIT! AFTER THIS BEAUTIFUL STORY I NEED A CUDDLE! NOW WHERE'S MY PLUSH... oh i don't have one.

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Thank you all for your words. I hate how impersonal mass replies are, but I like to reply to comments when I can because, as a writer, constructive feedback and genuine praise are gold. The former is practical, and the latter is enriching (especially on a bad day). The concept of "your neighbor" need not literally mean the people next door. It can be a writer whom you only know through a pen name, who you took the time to thank for writing something that was meaningful to you. In other words, by thanking me you have all taken one of those little steps to help your neighbor. So nice work! Spread the goodness one stranger at a time through kindness and courtesy! :twilightsmile:

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It's great to know, pal. Have a good day!

This is a truly wonderfull story. Thank you for writting it, it made mt day

It is my firm belief that good people vastly outnumber the bad in this world, otherwise civilization would never have progressed past two cro-magnons hitting each other with rocks. The problem is, if we meet 20 people in a given week, and one of them is a rude jackass, it's only the rude jackass we remember. It takes an epic level of goodness to really remember them.

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Well, the story conveys the concept of the Good Samaritan perfectly.

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True enough. We do have this unfortunate tendency to focus on the negative to a disproportionate degree. I realized that same imbalance in my study of war and was disturbed by the fact. So disturbed that I ultimately decided to try to emphasize the good where I could and encourage others to do the same. It takes a little training to convince the mind to think along those lines, but it's well worth it. My life is so much brighter now that I notice the colors, and I like to pay it forward with stories like this.

I am not going to deny it. This story made me cry, just as it does when I read a story about someone doing something good for someone else. It’s not sadness, per se. It’s happiness to see such a thing, and, yes, some sorrow that people so often tend to linger on the bad, and brush over the good. Thank you, Antiquarian, for helping to remind us all that, no matter how many like to point out the bad, that there is always some good, if you know where to look. :pinkiesad2:

This was a much needed read and heartwarming short story to enjoy.

It was little things after that.

More times the than the big things, far more often than the big things.

This was an amazing one shot! I'm glad I decided to look at it and thus read it this was a heartwarming heart feeling story that was a great read thank you my good sir for this read.

This story and your AN are sublime. I feel for the Apples, of course, but the story also conveys so much about Mr. Arrow and how he sees this world with a few well-chosen words, which I feel is just the way he’d like it.

I am so glad you wrote this and for giving us all the privilege of reading both the story and your author’s note.

Approved for Twilight's Library, The Goodfic Bin, and Tag-A-Long's Book Club.

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My pleasure. And thank you. :twilightsmile:

I needed that today. Thanks.

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You are such a good writer and person, God bless you.

I live in a cul-du-sac, last house going counter-clockwise, and when the plows come my drive and the house to my left basically get all the snow dumped in front of us. My neighbor two doors to my left always snowblows the mound the plow leaves.
He’s out of work, his snowblower is old, but this morning at 5am he was clearing me out (I was trying to shovel a path to get to work). When I thanked him for doing in five minutes what would’ve taken me half an hour, he told me “I’ve been doing this for fifteen years, and I don’t have the money to replace my snowblower, but I’m going to keep doing it until this thing can’t run anymore.”

He doesn’t even need to be up that early, and I wish there was more I could do to thank him than merely saying “thank you”, but he got me to work on time, and it’s a small kindness that meant a lot to me.

This is just a damn good wholesome story, and I loved every second of it.

My good sir. Thank you. Thank you for reminding us readers that sometimes it's the small things that make us realize that there is still good in this world. That doing something as small as a simple good deed can brighten someone's day. Thank you.

One of the most heartwarming stories I've ever read on this site. Thank you.:pinkiesmile:

The title reminds me of Mr.Rodgers Neighbourhood. Man I loved that show and this story. Brings back so many memories.

dougdelp.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/mr-rogers.jpg

Ouch. Right in the soul.

That’s gonna put me in a better mood for the rest of the day.

A simple but powerful story that plucks your heart strings in all the right ways. Mr arrow doesn't need words to help those in need. He does it through his actions

And thus another story that hits the feels bullseye has been added to the site. Good job sir, good job.

This is a top-notch story

My word, how can this story have downvotes!? :applejackconfused:
This was a wonderful story.
This reminds me of when I was at the library, and there was an elderly lady who was adding coins to someone else's parking meter. No one asked her to do it, nor did she think anyone else was around, she merely did it out of the kindness of her heart.

Mr. Arrow smiled. He’d seen these young women around many times and, while he questioned some of their more colorful hair styles (kids these days),

Looking at you Rainbow Dash.

I had something to say but, this guy said it better," I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."
-Tolkien

I didn't know I did, but I needed this. :pinkiesad2:

I have reviewed this here.

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