Nurse Redheart returned after a while. Maybe half an hour? I still didn't have a clock. She had a drinking straw in her mouth, thankfully it was in a wrapper. She deftly unwrapped it with her hooves, and it finally sank in for me just how crippling my lack of magic was. Losing hoof magic for a pony was the human equivalent of being a double amputee-
Relax, breathe. This is temporary. I'll figure out how to use my hooves eventually.
I opened my eyes and Redheart was waiting silently for me to finish my breathing exercise. No doubt she knew what I was doing.
"Are you feeling better, Green?" She asked after a moment.
I nodded.
"Do you have any pain in your leg this morning?" She had returned to the script.
There was an ache in my leg, and when I moved it, a bit of pain.
"No," I responded, shaking my head. "No pain."
The last thing I wanted was to take more painkillers, my mind was just starting to clear up.
"Did you need to go to the bathroom before breakfast?" The Nurse asked.
For a moment I was surprised by the question, just how young was I supposed to be? Then it hit me; with no hoof magic, I wouldn't even be able to clean myself after using the bathroom.
My hind legs twitched as I realized I was going to need help with that quite urgently.
I nodded again.
"Did you need some help?" She asked.
"Uh," I squeaked. "Yes, thank you."
It wasn't as embarrassing for me as you might imagine, after all, I'd helped hundreds of patients with this sort of thing.
I hobbled as quickly as I could without risking tripping over my cast. Which wasn't very fast. I'd have preferred to walk at a more dignified pace, but I wasn't keen on testing the limits of this new body's continence.
The bathroom differed from a human bathroom but pretty much in line with what I was expecting. The toilet was a 'squat' style toilet, basically, a trough in the middle of the floor with a raised half dome covering the end which the Nurse had indicated was the front as she guided me to stand over the trough. I had to spread my legs almost uncomfortably wide and Redheart kept a hoof under my barrel for a moment just to make sure I didn't slip and have my hooves go out from under me. Clearly, the toilet was sized for an adult pony rather than a filly my size.
I was meaning to wait until she left the room, but when she half turned her back and made a show of pretending not to be watching me I knew she was going to stay. I mentally shrugged. If she was comfortable with that, so was I. I was only holding it out of courtesy at this point, and other concerns were quickly overriding that.
After the nurse cleaned me and helped me to wash my hooves (even though I hadn't touched anything) I was feeling much relieved as she walked me back to bed. I made a mental note to keep better track of this body's needs lest there be an embarrassing situation in my future.
"You really had to go," She commented, "I bet you feel much better now!"
I couldn't help but blush, which was a novel experience for me. I couldn't remember the last time I'd blushed as a human.
"Yeah, well, I can't even remember the last time I used the toilet." I snarked.
"Oh?" She questioned seriously.
"That was a joke." I deadpanned.
She cracked a smile, and it was clear her serious expression had been in jest.
"All right, hop in bed and I'll give you your morning medications."
As I lay back in the bed, grateful that I was off my now throbbing foreleg, the nurse unlocked a drawer and started popping pills out of their packaging into a small paper cup.
"What am I taking this morning?" I asked.
"You've got three tablets and then I'll give you antibiotics through the IV on your foreleg."
"All right, what are the tablets for?" I clarified. Oh to be old again when people would treat me like I could understand what was going on.
"Well these two white ones are to help with your pain," She explained, "And this red one is to help you go to the bathroom."
They were giving me laxatives? Hmm, that meant I'd probably been on a lot of opiates.
"What kind of pain tablets are they?" I asked, suspicious. "Are they opiates?"
Opiates were good for what they were designed for, but I needed to keep a clear head and the pain really wasn't that bad. They probably weren't opiates, unless Equestria was a lot more lax with their controlled substances than Earth.
"No, they're just Intosolamol."
"Never heard of it," I responded. "Are they anti-inflammatories?"
Redheart nodded and checked my line of sight to the medication boxes, noting that I might just have been able to make out the writing on them, upside down and laying on a table across the room. She nodded again, to herself this time.
I took the pills and lay back in the bed. I felt the chill run up my foreleg as Redheart pushed the room temperature dose of antibiotics into my vein with a syringe.
"What are the antibiotics for?" I questioned. "Post-Op prophylaxis?"
"You had a urinary tract infection, but we cleared it magically," The nurse answered. "The antibiotics are to make sure it doesn't grow back. The infection is probably why you were delirious when you came in."
Oh great, if I was delirious there was no telling what I might have said or done. Literally no telling, since they wouldn't tell me.
Redheart had to spoon-feed me my breakfast. Until I managed to get control of my hoof magic, I had about as much bodily autonomy as an infant. Being able to live as a regular whatever-age-I-was filly would be amazing compared to what I had now. That was a good question, actually.
"How old am I?" I asked suddenly after finishing the meal.
"You couldn't tell us your name, so we don't know."
"Roughly though, how old do I look to you?"
"We had someone take a look at your teeth and you're most likely eight or nine years old, though you're a bit small for your age."
"Thanks."
"Are we still pretending that you don't remember anything?"
I went to facehoof but Redheart caught my hoof midway.
"Please don't hit yourself." She pleaded.
"But I wasn't-" I protested, but she cut me off.
"You don't have to lie anymore Green, you can trust me," She cut in. "When you think about what happened, does it make you want to hurt yourself?"
At that moment the utter stupidity of the situation forced the worst possible involuntary response. I facehoofed, yelped in pain, and had tears spring into my eyes.
Curse you body, you've failed me again.
Great chapter can't wait to see where this goes.
I have to wonder if facehooving would actually be a thing Green would do. In theory the new body has no muscle memory, so it wouldn’t be an autonomous response.
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I figure that face-palming is more of a socially learned behaviour rather than an autonomous one. Covering the face is a universal body language indicator for shame, but face-palming itself I don't think is universal across different human cultures.
Is my mental image of Filly-Anon for Green the correct one?
Very manipulative
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Fair enough.
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I am not entirely sure, but I don't think face palming was a common thing 10-15 years ago. At least, I hadn't observed it as a thing. I mean, I know it happened in some things, like startrek, but I don't really know when it started.
It seems most similar to either covering your eyes or cradling your head because headache.
Given I never did it until learning about it, despite being exasperated or feeling like an idiot on many occations, it probably is learned rather than innate.
I'm assuming the Social Worker interview will be coming up soon now that she is lucid. Talk about a challenge! Wonder if she will wind up with someone small compared to most ponies in hopes of making her more comfortable.
Whoever has that job will likely influence the next interview with the Guard as well as they try to search for that evil pony attacking human spotted in the recent dream!
That sounds familiar.
But in all seriousness, I'll mark this as 'read later'. The premise seems interesting enough.
Well done so far! I really appreciate all of the effort you've put into making the characters (both main and side) take the paths and actions that are most logical based on the information they would have in the situation (like Redheart assuming that an abused child would explain away any information they might have gathered with excuses and stories), rather than based on the information the reader has, that's a common pitfall that SI authors fall into, and you've done a good job avoiding it so far! Keep up the great work!
(P.S. not sure if the skin condition as a human thing is just a plot device, but if it's not, you have my deepest sympathies. I can't imagine living like that, much less finding the strength to conceptualize and create something this interesting at the same time!).
I've been in hospitals long term. If they think that you've possibly got a brain injury (say, a stroke or a concussion) they shine a light in your eyes to watch your pupils contract. Ever try to get back to sleep after someone shines a light in your eyes & watches your pupils contract?
That's not a laxative, that's High Explosives. You are going to be hollow by the end of the day. It's better than having to have an enema.
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True , But it is in the job description to give options from observations , And you did give them a somewhat delusional filly with a well . " Make a mare out of me" can be interpreted in a number of morally questionable ways .
So it is more than reasonable in my eyes , Also no 'person' is perfect and opinion and personality always colors an observation , their empathy ,and their actions.
Basically Accept my compliments ! lol !
I find this situation hilarious, and tragic. I don’t know why.
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Green isn't Anon, she's Green.
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Anon is green.
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*Double Facehoof* Ow..
I meant Anon as a way to say speak about her without knowing her name. Shes Jane Doe Pony now... LOL
This story reminds of Saga Tanya the Evil. Her life was also a parade of misinterpretation by both her superiors, subordinates and equals alike.
Loving this fic though! Do keep up the good work!!!
Just caught up with this from the start; great work so far! Loving your unique take on an old idea.
Now it's one thing for them to think she's just mimicking them at first, but they're going to have to question their assumptions when she starts spouting new yet pertinent medical knowledge she couldn't have possibly overheard beforehand. They might think that she's spent a lot of times in the hospital before and get lost on that wild goose chase.
Looking forward to the next chapter.
I thought this was going to be terrible, the kind of thing written by a junior high school student because it was a self insert. I am so glad I gave it a chance and look forward to the rest.
Well, this is a fascinating concept thus far. Definitely one of the better executed self-inserts on the site, and seeing an RN write a hospital is a delight. Looking forward to more.
I'm really loving this
The Monk
“Not telling you too much about humanity's special power, but I can give you a big hint! It is pure, concentrated spite.” -Knight Breeze
Green knew her fear was unlikely, but she couldn't take that chance.
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This is an amazing piece of work that I love when I find it. It is a very realistic take on how someone would react, and it shows. I know I would be doubting what was happening, and likely be having a freaking mental breakdown on "what the heck is going on!" pretty badly. When something that changes your appearance or body happens, normally people have a hard time. Turning into what is literally a physically completely different body and a world away from anyone or thing familiar, that would make anyone doubt their sanity and perception reality. I have a relative with Alzheimer's that used to be pretty bad till they found the right meds, so this type of situation is especially terrifying for me.
The way the staff jump through mental hoops to explain away her medical knowledge is reminiscent of an old HIE where the ponies 'know' the main character is at pet-lvl INT despite obvious evidence.
It's called I Am Not Spartacus
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Oh, I love that one!
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They'll never believe Green, they're all convinced that she was horribly assaulted, to the extent of having her leg broken and left in the woods to die.
Everything from being unable to know much about herself, let alone basic bodily functions like holding, is supposedly "trauma" in their minds to block the memories.
The truth is just a pass to the psych ward now
More plez
Great story I hope things get better for her
I didn't know how much I needed this fic!
Is this an actual curse? The exact moment you teased us with an update schedule all updates stopped.
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Unfortunately I had to skip a week over New Years. It turns out that the entire country suffering smoke inhalation makes the hospital busier.
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Sorry Green
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You're an Aussie!?!
All is forgiven! Snide remark retracted!
Deal with the Apocalypse first!
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Right you are.
Looking forward to a time when being on fire is no longer the trait my country is most known for.
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Well, I'm an American so I kinda get it. We've been metaphorically on fire for.. well maybe decades. These not much of my country that I still recognize as 'what we want to be'.
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Sorry, didn't read prior comments regarding fire. Yeah, that's bad stuff there. I know smoke causes all kinds of respiratory and other health problems. I'll leave my original comment below since it's still true regardless.
There's plenty in America that is going great. It's just the mainstream media thrives on discord and sensationalism. They don't care about the good stuff, that doesn't sell news. Think J. Jonah Jameson from the Spiderman comics. He doesn't care about the truth or the nice stories, he wants what catches attention and sells papers.
I haven't read this story yet, but the description sounds like a little head cannon of mine. Looking forward to diving in.
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Lucky you, there's a new chapter today!
At his point i wonder if this is a Displaced story or a traumatic filly trying to protect herself with very creative facts? Building a strange backstory seem to be logical if your actual backstory is unacceptebel
A urinary tract infection?
For all the possible infections she could get from not having any immunity to Equestrian diseases, a urinary tract infection seems like a bit of an odd one. Then again, she turned into an 8 year old filly fully formed, so who's to say her body didn't come with the right antibodies and microbiomes? Except the urinary tract I guess?
I do like her interactions with Nurse Redheart so far. Redheart doesn't know quite what to make of her.
Yayyy. Dr Green ftw
Incorrect reaction!
Yeah... I do this a lot.
Sometimes I even remember to tell them the truth - that I still feel a little pain, but I don't want painkillers. Funnily enough, that tends to work.
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I can confirm that facepalming is not practiced where I live. I learned it from the internet.
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Good looks cant kill- O wait... DAMN!
Well maybe next REINCARNATION runs better...
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Just started (binging to current) this story now, so comment is kinda late. (I actually also have experience being in the hospital for lengthy periods of time as a patient—over the course of 25 years—and have a lot of knowledge that the average patient wouldn't, so I'm really appreciating how it's going.)
She just changed from being male to female, and aside from stature, the big difference we (would) see between the genders in the show are their reproductive organs, so having a complete changeover would certainly cause some physical trauma, and infection would be likely. Her having a UTI doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
Edit: Coming back to say I also saw the author's response in a later chapter.
If Green has a UTI for whatever reason, then that would only increases their suspicions that she was sexually abused. The hole just gets dug deeper and deeper.
I love the hoof magic, that's how I imagine ponies pick things and grip them as well. They are all magical beings after all and to me it makes more sense than an anatomical explanation when explaining how they make complex objects like dresses with just hooves.
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For the dumb and not medically educated, why would UTI indicate decisions abuse?
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Possible NSFW under bar
if you don't clean up after sex, you're more likely to get a UTI.
Or, at least, so I've heard