Turns out they didn’t have chocolate. They offered cherry, alfalfa, and apple. I was almost tempted to try alfalfa just to see what it was like, but went with cherry in the end. It tasted god-awful.
As I tried my best to enjoy what must have been a sugar-free lollipop, I felt the nurse staring at me. I met her gaze for a moment. She gave me one of those fake smiles.
“What?” I asked.
“Do you need anything else?” she asked, hiding an impatient tone. “Some coloring books, maybe?”
Coloring books? How old did she think I am? Actually, on that thought, how old was I?
“No ma’am.” I responded. “Maybe just a normal book?”
I could probably gauge how old she thought I was by what kind of book she brought. I swear though, she brings me something along the lines of what a first grader would read, I was flipping shit.
“Of course. I’m afraid after that there really are other patients I must see, but before I go, do you need to use the restroom?”
Okay, so I was very young. That or…
I stared down at my forehooves. Yeah, so using the bathroom as a quadruped with one of my limbs out of the question was actually a bit of an issue. That, and I didn’t really know how bathrooms worked here.
For a moment I tried moving around my tail. Twitching it even a bit. It didn’t work. Well, whole new set of muscles, what did I expect? Shit. Yeah, definitely gonna need help. Also gonna have to find some way to explain why I didn’t know how to move one of my appendages.
God, I was way too sober for this shit. Give me a couple appletinis, or rum and cokes and I’d have the patience for this. Maybe a-
Focus, you idiot! The nurse is waiting for my answer.
Alright, let’s get this over with.
I nodded my head and followed Sweetheart out the door.
Same organ, similar plumbing, my main issue was moving my tail, which I eventually managed looping around a rear leg with some help from the nurse. I didn’t have to look to know she was gazing at me strangely because of that, but screw it.
The bathroom was simple. It consisted of what looked like a piss trough built into the floor, descending in the middle to make a “v” shape, and having a drain on the end closest to the sink. On the other side of the trough was a hole, with a pull cord hanging down from the ceiling in front of it. There was a toilet paper holder rod built up from the floor next to it. I suppose a human-like toilet bowl wouldn’t work as well for quadrupeds.
After I finished up, sighing in annoyance as I needed help wiping, I made my way over to the sink. The faucet looked about the same, and the bowl to catch the sink water seemed a little smaller than I was used to. Thankfully, the hot and cold water levers -also the same as a human sink- were something I could just put my hoof behind and pull toward me, so I didn’t have to explain to the nurse why I had no idea how to do hoof magic.
After trying my best to wash my hooves, I gazed into the mirror. Well, I looked strange, for sure, but also kind of cute. The proportions were the same as the show, giant eyes in the front of my head, but I had noticeable fur. It wasn't completely smooth like I remember the show.
Okay, so what could I ascertain from my own reflection? My eyes were completely forward facing, so that implied a predator. After quickly comparing eyes with the nurse watching me through the mirror, it became clear that my pupils were naturally smaller. So I was more sensitive to light, or something along the lines of a low-light hunter. But I knew equines in both my world and the world from the show are naturally herbivores. To test my theory, I opened my mouth and gazed at the underside of my teeth. Well, they were all molars, but that’s not what grabbed my attention at first. What my eyes were brought to were… divots? There was a thin hole in front of both my front and bottom teeth. I closed my mouth and tried exploring this area with my tongue. The skin was firm, but parted with a bit of effort. That made me think they were natural and not carved into me, or some crazy other thing.
With a push, I got my tongue deeper into the area, and instantly felt my tongue get sliced open. I quickly pulled it out and clamped my jaws shut in response to the pain. A moment later, I felt something slide out from in between my gums. A quick look revealed all I needed to know.
I had fangs.
Right around my front teeth were four sharp fangs protruding from my top and bottom jaws, coming from the hole in front of my teeth. Not just that, but it looked like more fangs were peeking out from that hole. Okay. I had a complete set of incisors and a complete set of molars. The fangs sprouted after the pain, so I assumed they were a defense mechanism and not just something that came out if I decided I wanted to eat meat. I wasn’t hungry enough to consider devouring a mouse or something, so I couldn’t fully tell.
I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths, after which I felt the fangs receding back into my mouth. I pulled back my lips and inspected my molars next. They weren’t pearly white, but tinted slightly yellow. There were no apparent cavities. So this body had dental hygiene, but hadn’t been keeping up with it, at least recently. It hadn’t been ignoring it for so long the teeth looked terrible, though.
So that, and the fact that I didn’t seem anywhere close to starving hinted at a solid diet. The condition of my teeth proved I was from a functional enough home that I did have solid hygienic habits, but also felt safe enough to not do it every day. At least, that’s what I took from it. Then again, if this body was just poofed out of nowhere, all my speculation was pointless.
Next I took a look at the scales adorning my muzzle and traveling up my face. I tapped on them. The sensation was dulled, but I felt it. From this, I assumed that it wasn’t meant as legitimate armor, but perhaps just an evolutionary quirk. Looked pretty cool, though. I twisted my head to the side to get a look at my mane. It was uncombed and there were apparent knots, but I did just walk through a forest and get attacked by a giant fucking wolf, so I dunno if I could really make any notes in regards to that.
Next, I spun around, trying to inspect as much of my body as closely as I could. There were no mysterious, unexplained bruises. No hidden lacerations that I could find. All in all, the only injuries my body had were the ones I had been there when I got. Well, minus the broken leg.
If my body had existed before I entered it, I think the chances were good that I wasn’t abused. So that means either I was thrown from the train, or decided to jump off myself for a reason that was centered in mental health. That, I couldn’t measure as well, especially from inside of the brain that could have had the mental health issues.
After unlooping my tail I turned around and nodded to Sweetheart, who led me down the short hallway to my room. The walls in the hallway were green and blue, and each treated with the same design. Thick white lines in a rough, yet consistent, hill-y shape all the way down. One interesting thing I did notice is how none of the rooms had designations. No sign saying what doctor’s room it was, no numbers, not even those color tabs you can pull out to signal whether the room is occupied, empty, or needs cleaning. I was three doors down and to the left when walking from the bathroom. That seemed important to know.
Sweetheart opened the door, and I was greeted to the same black and white checkered rug and the same bed with purple blankets next to a window with teal curtains. Sweetheart quickly explained that the “call nurse” button on the side of the bed would, shockingly, call a nurse in case I needed anything. After helping me up, she told me she was gonna go grab me a juice box and a book, then quietly took her leave.
As I waited for her to return I flopped onto my back and stared at the ceiling. The ceiling was those white tiles with all the black dots on it, and I amused myself by trying to count the dots. Quickly getting bored, I looked for something else. There were other things on the ceiling, I'm assuming lights and speakers, with weird symbols written on them. I know they were usually serial numbers, but these didn't look like any numbers I'd ever seen.
"Here you are, Sunny!" Sweetheart called out, pushing a cart into my room with a small bottle of juice with a straw and a book laying on it. I instantly recognized the cover photo of Daring Do. "Entertainment and a drink with a smile."
"Oh sweet, is the smile in the juice?" I joked. "Must be a pony thing."
Sweetheart chuckled and rolled her eyes. “No. Unfortunately, we’re not quite at the point where we can bottle happiness.”
“Oh, but we can.” I replied without thinking. “They just come in bottles that say 92 proof.”
It took several moments for my brain to catch up with what I just said. And when it did, I let out an unintentional cringe.
“Oh uh… I mean...” I stammered.
“Sunny, dear…” Sweetheart trailed off. “Do you know what that means?”
“I uh..” I stammered. “Well like, yeah, but it’s not like… um...”
“Has somepony made you drink something you didn’t recognize or didn’t want?”
Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!
“N-no, ‘course not! I just uh… h-heard my dad say that one time, and thought it sounded cool!”
“Dear, listen.” Sweetheart placed a hoof gently on my shoulder. “It’s okay if you were told not to tell anypony else. You aren’t in trouble, and I won’t tell… whoever asked you not to say anything that you told me. It could be our little secret.”
“No no, really.” I flashed a weak smile. “It’s just something I heard one time.”
Sweetheart spent a moment gazing into my eyes, her brows furrowed and a slight frown on her face, then nodded.
“Okay, Sunny. I am going to have to tell the doctor about this, okay?”
I nodded mutely, my whole body feeling numb.
“You should go ahead and try to get some sleep. Remember, that button will call me if you need anything.”
I nodded again as she left the room.
I waited until I was sure she was out of earshot before screaming into my pillow, then throwing it across the room.
“Stupid, stupid, STUPID!” I growled to myself. “What the hell was I thinking?”
I turned around and buried my face into the remaining pillow. There had to be a fix for this. I could have just have screwed everything up. What if they tried to send me to rehab or had some cop question me? Can you even send a child to rehab? And what if I did have worried family, family that actually cared for me searching for this body? Now I just got them in trouble too!
I cringed internally. The thoughts were racing through my head at a million miles an hour and the only suggestion my mind could come up with was another glass of mixed 92 proof. Or to get some way more serious painkill-
Morphine!
That's it!
It would have a different result than straight alcohol, but dammit, right now I just needed something to quiet my mind.
But the nurses had me only on regular pain tablets now, so I'd have to be crafty in convincing them I needed to step up to morphine.
I chewed on my lower lip as I gazed around the room, my sight eventually settling on the metal part of the bedframe. If I was gonna do this, I had to be convincing. I had to know exactly what to tell them. I could say I had a nightmare, but they just left and I…
I could play it to my advantage. Mysterious little girl with some issues, they’d overlook some of the logic, at least until after I got a little something to calm my nerves. And then, I’d imagine it’s far easier to play dumb as a child.
See, the problem was that I was a terrible liar. I couldn't tell what situations a little lie would save me a lot of trouble in, and even if I could, I was just straight up a bad liar.
But I was a decent actor.
I slowly extended my left foreleg and lined the injured portion up with the metal of the bedframe. I lifted it up and prepared to swing down, but froze. I tried again and froze again.
I didn't want to hurt myself. I could also fuck up my recovery, or injure the bone more!
“Stop!” I screamed internally. “This shit is why you need your crutch! Stop overthinking this and just do it!”
But I couldn't bring myself to finish the swing. I needed to distract myself somehow, I needed to-
I lunged forward and sank my teeth into my right foreleg as hard as I could. I tasted blood and fought back a scream.
With a shot of adrenaline, I lifted my left foreleg up and brought it down twice on the bedframe as hard as I could, unable to suppress a scream of pain as my foreleg felt like it exploded.
I curled in on myself as my eyes instantly flooded with tears. I felt around with my right foreleg and managed to find the "call nurse" button as I started shaking like a leaf.
Moments later the door clicked open and the cheery voice of Nurse Sweetheart called out.
"Hello Sunny, how can I- OH MY GOODNESS!"
She rushed to my side, gently picking me up and frantically looking me all over, growing several shades paler when she spotted my bad leg curled into my chest and my other foreleg dripping blood.
"I.. had a nightmare… bugs were eating me…" I choked between sobs, throwing the leg that wasn't broken around the nurse's neck and pulling her into a shaky hug for good measure.
"I-i-it hurts… so much," I sobbed into her coat as she carefully returned the embrace. "Help…"
I'll admit, I felt completely shitty for deceiving the nurse like this, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
"P-please…" I gave out a wet sniffle, doing my best to look just like an injured, scared child crying in pain. Turns out it's not hard to convince ponies you're vulnerable when you look like a little girl and are actually crying in pain. "Make i-it stop…"
"Redheart!" Sweetheart called out into the hallway. I briefly wondered if all the nurses' names ended in -heart. "Get the doctor!"
Looks like everything was going according to plan.
Okay... is there a reason the protagonist is being so flat out stupid?
10882027
Our protagonist has a serious case of child brain. She can't help but to follow her weird flow of logic.
I feel like our protagonist here has some more intense addiction issues than she’s letting on...
10882027
10882046
Not stupid, addicted and with serious psychological problems. Being willing to self mutilate to get drugs is FAR from mentally healthy, she just got herself into a watch list. Too little time for her to actually be asleep, she didn't touch the juice and the book, that's getting a LOT of attention drawn.
This story just took a MUCH darker turn than I expected, that's for sure!
Ah, yeah they are going to see through that lie really quick.
oh boy I wonder how she trick Luna later? mind lock against the mental invader type defense? i wouldn't be surprised if Luna though the child had a nightmare entity in them or was "corrupted" from "foreign" memories and Luna would sludge hammer as a solution wouldn't she?
Famous last word's my dear.
Well. This took an unexpected turn. Physical addiction symptoms probably won’t transfer from body to body, but psychological ones? Yeah, this will raise all kinds of red flags.
Also, watch the ponies employ magical, non-addictive anesthetic with no side effects whatsoever.
In the words of a famous news anchor, that escalated quickly.
At this point maybe it's for the best they're in a hospital, maybe this body wasn't abused, but the way they're acting I get the feeling they might have abused their own body in their own life if they're willling to hurt themselves for morphine or its equestrian equivalent.
Drug addict behavior right there.
10882046 Were ALL children vastly stupider than me? I mean, I know I was well beyond 99% of them.... but was I REALLY in the top 0.0000001%.
Sure, the tests SAID my IQ was 215 when I was 4, but I didn't believe it. And sure, the school superintendent showed up at the house and begged my mom to put me in an advanced placement school. And sure, I was watching "Nova" and "National Geographic" and the evening news at an age where most kids barely understood "Sesame Street". And SURE, I understood the concepts of general relativity and the basics of astrophysics before I entered kindergarten.
But, most kids were like that in the 80's! We were a better breed of human... thanks to the CIA's selective breeding program!
10883548
Ah yes, a 4 year old with an IQ of 215, having a grasp of general relativity and astrophysics, if you don't have a news article about you or atleast can name some major scientific studies you've conducted I don't believe it.
10882079
Hm. Could be.
10882130
Yeah, would have been smarter to wait a few hours.
10882406
Just turns out to be a sleep spell. Main character gets pissed.
Nah, won't happen.
10882998
Oops.
10883548
Smart lad.
10884155
Pretty sure he's being facetious, dude.
10883548
10884155
I had a whole bit written out for this but realized it is 1. unbelievable even if true, and 2. would dox me to prove it.
So short form is: The answer is yes. You would be surprised what a precocious polymath with poor social skills can get up to even as an young child. People like that do exist, I'm one of them, and yes I do have a terminal degree and news articles and publications supporting that (thankfully the 80s-90s seem to be mostly a blackhole for searching most of it). I seriously have stories that told even with proof have led close friends to consider me weirdly and I'm already really high on the strange scale as it is.
10884495
I just think that it shouldn't be mentioned without any sort of evidence to back it up, prodigies do exist, but effectively saying I'm better than you without so much as a lick of evidence is infuriating, and most of the time that's the point, it's almost always some troll trying to piss people off and for that reason, without giving evidence it's absolutely unbelievable.
It should not be mentioned whatsoever without anything to back it up, to do so without evidence is regardless of factuality, little more than saying "I'm better than you", nothing more than a boastful insult.
10884155 Your compliance isn't a factor. >:]
10884676
I realize this, sources are of course everything. I've also talked to Alondro before and while I have no proof for that particular statement, he does give off the same vibe that I recognize, and is a quite bright person. So potential issues of hyperbole aside I wouldn't actually be surprised. Trolling people with unbelievable but true statements is a thing after all.
I also rarely talk about this type of thing even in my day to day life because it really just comes across as bragging even if unintentional. Holy hell I'm leaving a bunch of stuff out too. I've had a few friends run into the stuff unintentionally with a search or when over at my place and I find it uncomfortable to start explaining. Doesn't help I have a very unique name (with an embedded pun) due to being raised by survivalist hippies. Let's just say I could use the phonetic version of my legal name as an OC and it would fit right in.
Yes, I realize I'm digging the unbelievable hole for myself even deeper. Which also mildly amuses me as everything I said is true.
In short, I'm old, I'm weird (understatement there), I'm actually pretty successful in life, and I don't really care all that much what others think anymore (didn't say my social skills were all that great though).
In the end it really doesn't matter, I'm just here to enjoy some horse words.
10885550
Yea that's fair enough, we're all here just to read some fanfiction and have a good time, I just think that it's simply not the place to brag.
P.S
"Which also mildly amuses me as everything I said is true."
I find that when you're talking about evidence and such, a contradictory phrase such as "as everything I said is true" should be left out.
It's a contradiction to some of what you just said moments before and has added a flaw in your argument that in my experience can sometimes prevent either a compromise or agreement.
That's because you went from recognizing that boasting without evidence shouldn't be done, to proceeding to claim truthfulness of your boast without evidence.
From a standpoint of convincing others of your viewpoint, contradictory phrases like that are similar to insults solely in how they make something unagreeable, and must be addressed before proper discussion.
10882083
Jinzou's last blog post talked about struggling with how to properly portray an unspecified condition that our protagonist would have. Looks like we now know what that is.
10889327
...Or do you?
10893978
It does, though sometimes in roundabout ways. E.g.a cramp in leg may transform into an wild animal bite. It is unheard of to lucidly cause yourself some pain.
10893978
Is it? You think dreams are realistic while in dreams, but when you wake up your realize how ridiculous they are. Besides, I don't think I'm stupid and I didn't know that for sure.
...Oh no.
Crap.
That...
Something tells me that pur protagonist had some problems before getting here.
Maybe they legitimately needed to mellow out but...
It fel almost like psychological addiction.
They said they hadn't done drugs before...
But maybe they'd been injured in the past?
Would explain the basic knowledge of first aid and what to do when hurt.
If that prior injury put then under morphine... wouldn't be unreasonable to believe they could've gotten hooked. Even if they didn't persue it after.
...
...
Maybe I'm just overthinking things though, and our protagonist just needs to calm down and only sees morphine as a way to conceivably do so.
This can't end well... if anything it'll be throwing up even more red flags
"Ok." loads shotgun
10964799
Lol, whoops.
10964799
Lol, that's dark. I approve.
10941492
That would be the blissful ignorance of normalizing alcohol addiction. Alcohol IS a drug, and in their moment of withdrawal they are looking for the closest thing to it.
That's... seriously messed up. And it will be even worse if she actually share her body with the original owner.
Half true. I've probably made mention of this at one point or another, but...
Crutch.....? Oh no,....
bro.
This protag is pretty metal.
Oh, cringe.
What the fuck. Self-harm for a dose? Do you not even think that alcohol is deadly for kids? You just thought about not putting your family in trouble! And immediately, that!
Ah, I love laughing at things that horrify normal people.
I don't get it
11254411
It meant she found her happiness in a bottle of 92 proof (46 percent) alcohol. She didn't think about how that would look coming from a child until right after.
11254411
booze. really strong booze.
What a... Strange jump in logic? Holy hell this chick.
Wow the MC is insane.
The last two dozen paragraphs broke our willing suspension of disbelief.
That’s…odd. It feels like they went from “I am a logical, calm person who can recognize the situation” to *scratches neck*”Got any more of that good shit?” In a split second. Maybe if they were thinking about booze even an hour earlier, I’d find it easier to believe, but they’ve been dry for three chapters without a thought of it.
The main character is...interesting. I know writers should try to write a flawed character so they do not have a Mary Sue MC but this character seems to be going out of her way to make stupid decisions. On train tracks with a broken leg? I must run into a dangerous forrest! Adults are looking at me a little odd for behaving weird? I must slam my broken leg into a metal bar to get morphine! And both times this little voice in her head, or instincts, says not to do this her response is basically Shut up and do it pussy! She does not seem to have or listen to her common sense. I know waking up in Equestria would be a jarring experience and lead some people to do rash actions but she needs to start thinking smarter or she is going to be locked up like that dog pony for her own safety. But we are early in the story so there is time for character/emotional development later. Other than her going to extreme answers for minor problems like those I am liking the story so far.
10883548
10884495
While yes, children can be extremely smart and handle very advanced topics at young ages (I would know, except this kinda fucked me over in school since I never put any effort into learning, so I nearly flunked all rote-memorization and humanities classes straight until university) an "IQ of 215" is absolute nonsense. The only way you're getting that score is if you're taking a shady internet test. Real IQ tests cap out between 140-160-ish, mostly depending on cohort.
It was going so well... And then the second half of this chapter happened.
I mean, I guess she's having trouble with her foal mind messing up her logics, and maybe she didn't have a straight edge as a human, but holy Jesus in a handbasket, what kind of person wouldn't think twice at the thought of drugs in such a precarious position? Even the worst drug addicts would think twice and hold their withdrawal back if there are police roaming around.
I'm not pissed off at her wanting morphine, I'm pissed off at how the delivery of the scene wants us readers to think that this is how junkies think. Being a junkie is a state of mind, like ever-present intrusive thoughts, not merely unable to argue themselves off of wanting a stronger analgesic. The fact that the MC didn't even think about drugs until this moment means she's not that much of an addict, and should've been able to tell herself off of the stupid scheme. If the MC is as bad as that scene want us to believe, she should've been name-dropping some of the substances she'd use to dull the pain since chapter 1.
Either the author just failed to deliver enough hints early on that she was really this bad, or this was a knee-jerk idea written poorly; either way, that scene is just executed extremely poorly. Everything was really neat until that part, but it just tanked my expectations massively. I'll see if there's a sensible explanation int he next few chapters, else I'll just drop it and be done with it.
Drugs make everything better