Chapter 7.
“Hey listen Anon, me an Twilight gotta step into the hall real quick. We’ll be right back!” Said Applejack as she used her hoof to direct Twilight into the hallway.
“Oh…kay…” you replied weakly as you watch the two mares leave your room. Pinkie Pie and Rarity both glanced their way as the doctor cantered up to address you.
“Well Mr. Anonymous, I know this is a lot to take in. Do you have any questions you would like to ask me?” You had a lot of questions. How did you get hit by lighting on a day you remember having clear skies? Was there really no way for you to recover from this? They had magic in Equestria! Unicorns could teleport, but they couldn’t fix nerve damage? What sense did that make? Would you even be able to pay the medical bills? How were you supposed to earn a living if you were bed bound? Was someone going to have to take care of you from now on? Had you lost all semblance of your independence?
“W-wha…t…happens…n-now?” You croaked. The doctor looked to the side mournfully before looking you in the eye.
“Well, we need to keep you in the hospital for another week to make sure you’re stable. After that, well it’s customary to have you released into the care of a next of kin. But seeing as you don’t have any…well, my recommendation would to have you cared for at the Ponyville Retirement Home. It’s the only facility in town that can provide you with 24/7 care.”
You felt like screaming in absolute terror! But with the injuries now wearing you down all you managed was a wide eyed gasp. You had visited family in nursing homes back on Earth. You’d seen the way those old people lived in those places, if you could call it living. You’d be stuck in a room only slightly less depressing than the one you found yourself in now. It was only slightly better than being trapped in a mental hospital. You’d be a prisoner, with absolutely no means of escape. It’s not like you’d be able to run away, would it? And you wouldn’t be there for the waning twilight years of your life. You were still relatively young. You could be there for decades upon decades! Anxiety and looming dream began building in your body.
“Oh no, absolutely not!” Interjected Rarity. The building dread drained as quickly as it built, replaced by hope. You looked at her in surprise, as did the doctor. “Anon I know I speak for all of us girls when I say that we will NOT allow you to just waste away in some nursing home surrounded by nothing but…old ponies,” she shivered. “With their fading complexions and wrinkly skin! Each time you see them you’re reminded of the inevitable decline of your own youth! The years you’ll never get back! The-the gray MANES! Grey manes everywhere with not a single drop of color!” Rarity reared back, holding her front hooves to her face with wide eyes. You wanted to chuckle at her dramatics as a wave of relief flowed over you.
‘Same old Rarity,’ you thought. But you were grateful. You weren’t sure exactly what her solution was, but you were glad you had your friends to help you through what was now going to be the most arduous time in your life.
“Yeah! Nonny you don’t have to worry about a thing!” Chirped Pinky with some renewed pep. “We can take care of you! It’ll be fun!” A smile came to your face. As much as you could manage anyway.
“Miss Belle, Miss Pie, Anonymous is going to be completely immobile. He’ll need somepony to help him eat, help him bathe, use the bathroom-“ explained the doctor but his words faded away as you became acutely focused on your own thoughts.
‘Dear God,’ you think to yourself. ‘I won’t even be able to use the bathroom on my own? Would they take me to the bathroom and place me on the toilet when I need to go? No that wouldn’t be practical…I’d need a catheter, maybe even a diaper!’
The loss of your independence in such an extreme fashion made you start to feel claustrophobic. And it just wouldn’t be uncomfortable, it would be HUMILIATING! Just the thought of needing someone to help you with your bathroom needs or to strip you down and bathe you! Was this really what was awaiting you? For the rest of your life? Maybe you’ll get used to it. Maybe it won’t take too long… but still, right now you are filled with anxiety and the sense of claustrophobia rises. You’re just lying in a bed right now, but just the thought of these inevitable situations makes you almost feel like they’re already happening. You didn’t want to live like that!
The beeping of the heart monitor that connected to your wrist started to increase it’s frequency, drawing all attention in the room to you. Just then, the door to your room opened, and Twilight burst through, alarmed.
“What’s going on, I heard an increased ECG BPM indicating cardiovascular distress!” Pinkie came up to you and put a hoof on you to comfort you, while the doctor ran up to the monitor to inspect it.
“What’s wrong? Anonymous, are you alright?” All eyes were on you. You took in as deep of a breath as you could, trying to calm yourself.
“S-sorry,” you wheezed out. “Just got…a li-little…w-worried….” Everyone calmed down, and looked at you sympathetically.
“I understand. Well, I can’t truly understand what you’re going through, but know that all these sudden changes can make you feel like the world is ending,” said the doctor.
‘Not THE world…just…mine,’ you think to yourself.
“W-what did I miss?” Asked Twilight as she approached your bed.
“We were just explaining to Anon that we’ll be here to support him in every way we can!” Announced Rarity boldly.
“Yeah, we’re not gonna let you just sit around, bored out of your mind for the rest of your life! We’re going to be there for you and make you’re life is just as amazing as it ever was!” Proclaimed Pinkie Pie. It was wishfully optimistic, but you couldn’t be more grateful for the sentiment. Maybe things wouldn’t be all that bad after all?
“R-really?” You questioned.
“That’s right,” said Twilight as she stepped up to your bed. “Anon, I know things are going to be hard, but we’re going to do everything we can to support you!” You smiled as tears dripped from your eyes. But you were still concerned over a few things.
“But…what about….work? My job…where…will I live? How will I…I…I pay-“
“You don’t have to worry about a thing Anon!” Proclaimed Twilight. “Listen Anon, we have a week to figure things out! And I promise that we will have everything ready by the time you’re released from the hospital!”
“P-pinkie…promise?” You asked, lifting the corner of your mouth in a half smile.
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Promised Twilight as she went through the motions. Pinkie gave her a serious look, which quickly morphed into a happy one. You smiled as well.
“T-thanks you guys…I…I don’t…know what…I’d do…without you!” You’d never had friends as dedicated and caring as the ones you’d made in Equestria. Things might be looking down now, but as long as you have your friends by your side, there would always be something to hold on to!
Princess Celestia looked down at the letter resting on her desk. She had read it and re-read it six times over, but she was still as baffled as she had been upon her first reading. She was in absolute disbelief. Taking in a deep breath through her nostrils she levitated a blank piece of parchment onto her desk, dipped her quill and began to write.
Dear Twilight,
I’m on my way. When I arrive, I want to hear everything.
-Sincerely Princess Celestia
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It’s very unfortunate that a unicorn might have issues picking up Anon to the bathroom when I’m thinking about it… It’s great the girls will help him but that’s a lot of responsibility that I have to assume Anon has to live in a place that’s easier to mange him.
Health insurance is á interesting topic since I wonder if his job has it and would help? Man… his job probably is going to have to let him go because he isn’t going to be able to do anything
wait… Rarity might had found a manikin after all 
I wonder if Twilight will come clean to Celestia or lie about what happened… which… I feel like since this is unicorn Twilight she might over react thinking Rainbow Dash would be sent to the Moon and lie to her teacher… Applejack being the voice of reason makes sense and I could definitely see Twilight and even Rainbow Dash struggle this situation…
Watch Celestia ban thunder clouds in Ponyville
11595122
Yea, I see Fluttershy taking care of Anon the most
If they are, every step of their road was surely paved with good intentions. Cellys role in the show is to dispense deus ex machina, maybe she’ll do so here as well. Not seeing where the plot is going without some anyway.
It's possible.
First form of something resembling health insurance was in ancient China, exact name unknown.
Unlikely, for that form of health insurance was, by provided quality of life parameter, arguably superior to nearly all forms of Western healthcare organization.
11616616
Twilight already wrote Celestia the truth in the previous chapter.
11616630
Oh yea
Anon still has the nerves from the neck up working, right? Could Twilight use one of her transformation spells to turn him into something with that same range of nerves? If she can transform herself & her friends into Breezies, which is less mass, then a new form or smaller form should be doable. Difficult obviously, but possible. If Twilight wasn't able, then Celestia who has a larger pool of power would be able to assist.
I'm telling you man, necromancy solves everything. Ask any skeletal pirate, absolutely no aches or pains, and mobility issues are a thing of the past! There's no downside!
Unless you like being able to taste food or sleep for some strange reason...
And the kriffing dogs...
Maybe this'll jump start some sort of research and development towards potentially fixing spine damage, it's probably an exceedingly rare thing given magic but perhaps this will help those few suffering from it now (if there are even any who are) and any who could be afflicted like this in the future. You'd figure with magic and potions and other things along that line something could be developed to help even a little.
Why do I have the feeling Anon is about to be home a pony?
There is the other option. Anon can ask for that pillow over the face. I know it sounds terrible but who wants to go through life trapped in your own body?
11616616
Well, Rainbow Dash just got fired from the weather team, if not going to the dungeons for assault
11616658
I think the author isn’t going for that kind of story. Since if it was that then it won’t really mean much to what was written so far.
11616661
She’ll likely be taking care of Anon for life
Rarity's an agist, confirmed.
I wonder, has Rarity and Granny Smith been seen in the same room?
How about Mayor Mare? Has she ever been seen making small talk with Rares?
Also:
Someone's dead.
11616661
Fired? More likely then not, but dungeon? When they never threw Starlight in a dungeon? One of the Elements of Harmony? Their best line of defense against major magical threats? I'm going to have to disagree with you on that.
11616660
I have a feeling that a request will be made for assisted suicide at some point. Doubt any of the ponies would go through with it though. Maybe a pony would never even consider the idea of suicide in the first place.
11616616
On the other hand, we've seen unicorns levitate themselves, and ponies look like they'd be at least as heavy as an average adult human.
On the other other hand, only especially skilled unicorns have done that.
11616658
I think the author isn’t going for that kind of story. Since if it was that then it won’t really mean much to what was written so far.
11616661
She’ll likely be taking care of Anon for life.
11616672
Yes, but don’t forget that in this story Twilight explain Anon is pretty much immune to magic which was the reason why the lightning blot hurt him.
It just gets worse
Maybe if Twi could research something to counter his anti-magic effect, they could help him. But it'd take a while
11616675
11616680
I thought no magic just meant that Anon didn't have magic to protect him from the real-life effects of lightning, not that he couldn't be affected by magic. I mean, unicorns levitate mundane non-living things all the time.
11616684
Look back at the full story it’s hard to say if he is or isn’t. Maybe I’m wrong about it and just it’s that he doesn’t have the magic to protect like you said
I'm guessing transforming him into a pony would be an option.
I don't know if it's just because I'm Canadian and know better, but I'd figure that a place like Equestria would have free, public health care. You know, since ponies are adamant about helping each other and friendship and all that?
11616710
Unfortunately in MLP:FIM canon Applejack saves money for Granny Smith's hip replacement surgery, so maybe not. It is dumb subplot for S1 finale that never brought up again, but it is canon. But yeah, it doesn't make sense in relation to how show presents Equestria in general.
11616688
If everything fails they can use time travel.
Early retired yay
Pluged a tube into his butthole and weld it shut, connect other end to the drainage.
He spend too much time in the hospital as it is. His manager likely fired him already.
No oNe WaNt to wORk anYmOrE!
That's a pretty short letter.
11616710
11616736
Equestria is based in what progressive americans think is good. Completely free healthcare is an alien concept to them.
There's also 'good buinessman' like filthy rich who potrayed as a good person.
Like, why the producer of goods, the apple family, is barely have any money, while middleman reseller like the rich family is so rich and have so much political power in ponyville?
Or the villians. If you remove the "friendship is magic" stuff out of it. Everything boiled down to "we needed a good man with a gun to defeat a bad man with a gun"
Just wait til Celestia gets the full story, Twilight's tongue lashing at Rainbow will pale in comparison to Celestia's.
11616691
It could, but we don't know if that will fix his paralysis. Also would Anon WANT to be turned into a pony, even IF it was guaranteed he would be able to walk again. He is already having a panic attack about having to adapt to never being independent again. It might cause him more duress if he has to choose to give up his Humanity and sense of self even IF he was guaranteed he would walk again, he would still have to adapt to being a pony and that will still cause him to lose his independence at least for a while to learn to be a pony.
Though based on what the author has written thus far, I think we can assume that the author won't go for the quick fix at least now. Maybe later or not at all
11616628
Figures, Conservatives would back a model of care made by the Chinese while starting shit about all of our problems come from other countries.
Health insurance is a good thing. It’s FOR PROFIT health insurance that is awful.
11616975
ALL insurance is essentially gambling. You put money into the betting pool against the odds of people experiencing whatever the pool insures against. The reason some nameless ANCIENT Chinese HEALTHCARE system worked boils down to people not living long enough to use up the funds in the pot.
Logically, the Progressive solution would be to euthanize all those who can no longer contribute to the system I.e. Joseph Stallin, or Canadian death counseling.
11617122 Canada has death councelling?
sound like a myth made by the republicans again.
I mean 15 countrys or less have no social healthcare from 180...
An about what country invented modern Universal Healthcare.
Well this is a suprising one, it as invented by Otto von Bismarck the iron Chancellor.
This was in 1883, but he invented or lead the way for:
Accident issurances in 1884
Well beside pension and issurance for for people with disabilities.
But yeah it as invented partially as a way to protect the reichstag against the socialists.
11616680
He isn't magic resistant, he just doesn’t have any of his own
11617133
Oooh, right. That was a big misunderstanding by the comments xD
So transformation could work. Even if he's still paralyzed, he could become a unicorn and self-levitate to control his limbs and such...
Get displaced to Equestria, they said.
It’s all friendship and rainbows, they said.
Have fun and whacky adventures, they said!
Really can’t wait for Celestia to show up.
Чувствую в следующей главе будет развал кабин)
Funny thing that only American could do such emphasis on medical bills
I love this author, the stories are so good and the author's notes always crack me up from how absurd they are. Keep up the great work. (At your own pace of course.)
With Celestia at the helm, I doubt things like health insurance or extreme corruption are a thing.
Also, with Celestia at the helm, the dressing down that Rainbow is going to get will be strong enough to melt the earth.
Man I couldn't imagine being in this man's position. Being rendered absolutely useless, worthless, and completely reliant upon others for the rest of your life, I would feel miserable putting such a burden on others around me regardless of how willing they sound in the moment. That mental toll will come for all involved sooner or later. Like they said, being old and dependent is one thing, but this guy is what? 20-something right? Yeaaaah no, I'd much rather them prioritize their own lives over my own at that pt. I couldn't handle that, just...take me out back and *forget I existed*
11616658
It's either that (turns into pony as last resort)
Or, he magically recovers over "X" amount of time and it's a journey of forgiveness and recovery
or, it's a story of how a bed-ridden man spirals into deep depression as he is constantly reminded of his uselessness and the burden he puts on those he cares for as they focus on taken care of him over their own lives. Filled with self-loathing, resentment (unlikely given his nature so far but he hasn't been told the truth yet, and given human nature, that could flip on a dime), and suicidal thoughts/pleas (since, yk, he can't do any self harm himself)
11617122
Least insane and delusional Conservative strawman. Soviet Union didn't practice euthanasia, under any administration, including Stalin's. The closest thing Soviet Union had to euthanasia is turning off life support of irresponsive brain dead patients after mandated wait period. Canadian euthanasia option is an option for adults with debilitative or painful diseases with no prospect of recovery.
11617269
Thank you, I put a lot of work into my authors notes!
Idea: make a Gollum suit, iron man style, that responds to commands. It will give him back a level of independence.
11616736
The thing is, that one line of dialogue about Granny's replacement hip was the only reference to paying out-of-pocket for healthcare in all of MLP canon. So writing it off as "early installment weirdness" is not unreasonable.
11616671
Again, if it came to that, there's always the option of turning him into stone while he waits for somepony to develop a cure. To be fair, there is the risk that that would take long enough that you'd wake up to find that everyone you know is dead - meaning that doing it for a condition you could reasonably have lived with could turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory. Though by any sane standard, Anon here would be a perfectly valid candidate for the Phillip J. Fry treatment.
One way or another, if someone in this condition has concluded that life isn't worth living, and you're trying to change their mind, you damn well better have more to offer than stock feel-good platitudes.
11617343
Plus many of the assistive doodads that have let real-life people in this state have respectable careers and hobbies are well beyond G4 Equestria's tech level. Though there may be magical substitutes for some things.
Damn. Getting transported to Equestria, which for some could be equal to Heaven, only to get paralyzed by freaking stoopid rainbow pony. How cruel and unfortunate
11616736
Unless it's life threatening or serious impedement, you have to pay for hip replacement in the UK.
So that doesn't really stand as a counter argument
11617410
Or depressed Canadian military veterans.
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Canada advizes is depressed veterans to get assisted suicide.
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It was a suggestion from one shitty doctor to a single veteran named Alan Nichols, who wasn't even eligible, because chronic depression isn't covered.