Tic…tok…tic…tok…tik…tok…
Your room was silent except for the ticking hands of the clock that was mounted just above your bed. You had no physical way of looking at said clock to check the time, but you knew that it was early in the morning due to view of the outside you had through your window.
When you had awoken a few minutes earlier, you’d made the attempt to raise your hand to your face in order to wipe the sleep away, only to find that you arm did not respond to your command. Panic set in for a brief moment before reality reared it’s ugly head like the hideous bastard it was. That panic settled into disappointment as you realized once again that your new circumstances were not just a dream. Something similar had happened when you had first come to this world. It took you a week to come to believe that the new world you inhabited was real.
But this was different. While you were able to adjust and eventually thrive in this new world of magic and talking ponies, this new situation had no up sides whatsoever. Where you once lived an active lifestyle, able to run through White Tail Woods and go for hikes in the nearby mountainside, you were now stuck to a bed. Where you were once fully self sufficient, you are now incapable of even feeding yourself. And to make matters worse, your nose had a burning itch. One you were incapable of scratching.
And now, the true horror of your situation reveals itself. Every time you have an itch on your face, every time your eyes are irritated and you need to scratch, you will be at the mercy of that dirty feeling unless you have someone in the room with you to scratch it for you.
‘Dear God, what did I do to deserve this?’
Just then, there is a knock at you door.
“Come…in…” you call out weakly, not sure if whoever was on the other side of the door could hear you. Regardless, the door swings open and in walked Nurse Red Heart.
“Good morning Anonymous, how are you doing today?” She asked kindly.
“My nose…itches.”
“Oh dear, I can see how that would be a problem. No worries though, I’m here to help!” The nurse trots over to your bedside and uses her hoof to scratch your nose, causing the irritation to disappear in a moment of catharsis. “Better?” She asks.
“Much…thanks,” you reply gratefully.
“Think nothing of it, it is my job after all!”
“To…scratch my…nose?” You make an attempt a joke, but with your stunted speech, you aren’t sure it landed or not. Thankfully the nurse let out a giggle.
“Well, I suppose it could be considered part of my duties. I’m here to help you out after all! How are you feeling by the way?”
Growing increasingly depressed? That was probably a given, but she probably only wanted to know how you were feeling physically. She was a nurse, not a therapist after all.
“I’m not…in pain…just…numb. Wish I could…get up and…move around.” She gave you a sad and sympathetic look.
“I know. I can’t imagine what this must be like for you. But don’t you worry! We’re all here to help you in anyway we can!” You offer her a weak smile of gratitude. “Now you must be hungry! I’ll go fetch you some breakfast! But while you wait, you have a few visitors!”
“W-who?”
“Your friend Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia herself!” Princess Celestia was visiting you? How long had it been since you’d seen her? You couldn’t remember. You weren’t as close to her as you were with the others, but she was always friendly with you when you saw her, enough that you could call her a friend. Still, you were surprised she was able to take the time off of ruling the entire country just to visit you.
‘These ponies…even the Princess of Equestria is willing to drop everything to visit a friend in need.’
In truth, it had always seemed that you getting to live in Equestria was too good to be true. Was your accident some sort of balancing act? You didn’t want to consider that as a possibility.
The nurse opened the door, and allowed Celestia and Twilight to enter.
“I’ll leave you three to talk while I go get Anon’s breakfast,” she bowed to Princess and then trotted out. The two mares walked up to your bedside. Celestia gave you a sad smile, but you could see there was another emotion behind her eyes, one you couldn’t quite place.
“Hey…guys…thanks f-for vis-ting.” You wondered if you were going to speak like this for the rest of your life, or if there was some way to at least recover your ability to speak properly.
“Good morning Anonymous. How are you feeling?” Questioned the Princess.
“Could be better,” you replied.
“Of course. I can’t imagine what it must be like for you, but I want you to know that you don’t have to worry about anything. I’ll see to it that you are taken care of.”
“Are you…sure? I don’t want…to be…a bur-den.” She looked taken aback by that.
“Why on Earth would you think yourself a burden?” She questioned. At that, you stared at the wall ahead of you, as self deprecating thoughts began to build in your head.
“I can’t move…c-can’t walk…can’t work…can’t cont-tr-tribute to…society…in any way. All I can…do is…sit here…what’s the p-p-point? Why…waste re-re-sou-es…on someone…who can’t con-con-tribute back?” Try as you might to resist, tears started flowing down your cheeks. Celestia used the heavenly soft feathers of her wing to elegantly wipe the tears from your face. Your eyes locked, and you could see an unfathomable compassion in her expression.
“I don’t want to hear you talk like that Anon. You ARE NOT a burden. And you are not the only pon-person to be in a situation like this.”
“I’m n-not?” You question.
“No, you are not. Believe it or not, Equestria is not a perfect place. Bad things do happen, and there are some ponies out there who for one reason or another, can’t take care of themselves. The crown takes care of those who can’t aid themselves. Perhaps it would be good for you to meet some of them. I could point you in the right direction.”
“M-maybe….”
“I’ll let you think about it. But I did have a question for you, Anon.”
“W-what?”
“What do you remember about your accident?”
‘Why is she asking that?’ You tried to recall what had happened.
“It…was all…so fast….I was walking…then…I w-was on the ground…looking up…I couldn’t m-m-move. My ears were…r-ringing. Then Rainbow Dash found me….” You were sure she had been told what had happened beyond that point by Twilight. As you looked at them, you saw Twilight was glancing at Celestia with concern, while the Princess seemed to be contemplating something. It got you thinking though, how exactly had you been struck by lightning? It was a clear day out, and the weather in Equestria was regulated by the Pegasi. You were about to ask, when the Princess spoke first.
“I see. Thank you Anon. Me and Twilight have a bit of business to attend to. If you need anything from me, I’m just a letter away.”
“Oh…o-kay…” They were leaving already? You thought she had come to see you. What business was there for her here in Ponyville?
Celestia looked to Twilight, who nodded. They both said their final goodbyes and made their way out of your room, leaving you alone. Alone with your thoughts. As much as you tried to fight the nagging feeling in your head, you couldn’t escape the feeling…that they were hiding something from you.
Oh no not…rewrite's, and with the writers strike going on, ough it’ll be ages before we see a new chapter!
I wanna know celestia’s thoughts. She seemed to be thinking a lot.
Bad timing for an April fools joke with those notes
Rewrites? What is there to rewrite? It’s going pretty good.
Is Discord around yet in this story? Can Luna dream walk with him any? Has Twilight asked Zecora if she knows anything? I forgot if these were ever mentioned.
Is... this a joke? I can't tell if you're being serious.
I like Anon a lot, he acts like a normal average person, he does not have many unique characteristics, but he is written very well.
11698781
Time to pry to open the forbidden box and release the, erm, author replacements .
I can’t tell if your author’s note is just a joke or some form of reverse psychology. Or even both. Good chapter.
You tease.
(Long and heavy sigh...)
And just when I thought that this story had gone dead, yet you publish another chapter, only to inform the rest of us that you intend to abandon the story for a rewrite.
I'd say that you have Thunder Struck us Anons...
I’m wondering the same thing as PirateLord93. I’m also wondering if you think it would take too much away from the story if Anonymous were healed, somehow. Like they magically, removed his soul and placed it in a new body. Perhaps a pony body.
he KNOWS the weather is CONTROLLED by pegasi, he KNOWS Rainbow Dash, the pegasus, was close enough to find him first, he KNOWS that Rainbow hasn't visited him once since the incident... He really trusts Rainbow enough to actively deny all the evidence that Rainbow did that to him...
Probably the "best" way to "confront" him is by telling him that they now know how it happened, and they think he knows as well, that they know the mare who did it never wanted to hurt him, and she's too scared to see you, not just because of what she's done, but how you might feel about her, as you have every right to, if you do.
You’ve done fine so far but I can’t see where to go from here either. There’s no conflict to drive the plot forward, no resolution seems possible. Everyone agrees Rainbow did bad and should feel bad. Everyone is sorry for Anon. Everyone agrees he’s going to stay like this for the rest of his life. Only argument is to euthanize him or not, bummer outcome either way. Might have written yourself into a corner there.
11699050
You're forgetting about the conflict Anon is about to go through as he realizes, or finds out, that Rainbow Dash was responsible for it. He's already starting to think about it and that's where the story seems to be headed.
Masterful troll
Yeah, Celly and Twi are certainly gonna be busy...
DO NOT YOU DARE! NO REWRITES!
Oh come on! It's just a human! There's like, 9 billion more of them!
Just go buy another one! (Yay slaves! )
11699147
I don't think the people got your satire.
1000 words per chapter and a rewrite? dude, what the hell.
11673395
Yes, ponies are truly special, higher beings....
Oof! Bro-bro's in denial right now.
Also:
It seems like everyone who read and then commented about the author's note stopped here, because...
This is so obviously a joke it's not funny.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm not actually re-writing the story, that was a joke
"Why on Earth would you think yourself a burden?" Uh, don't know if their planet is called Earth, that's where Anon is from. Isn't it usually Equus in fanon?
11698905
Ordinarily, In this sort of story, letting the harmed character recover too easily can in fact undermine the conflict. Though here, there are a couple of factors that complicate things a bit:
- Anon's condition is such that his options for achieving a not-horrible quality of life are slim - most of your common disability-positive platitudes would probably feel like something straight out of Snopes' Glurge Gallery. Celestia said "The crown takes care of those who can’t aid themselves", but for some sapient beings, being cared for is not a substitute for enjoying life.
- We're looking at a world where high-octane magic is all over the place, magic is studied and practiced scientifically, the original main character has mad skills in both magic and non-magical science, and said character is portrayed here as a friend of Anon. Logically, one would expect her to seek out any and all magic that might be helpful here.
Either way, at least turning Anon into a pony would still involve some permanent change to deal with.
11699050
I believe the conflict in this story will be Anon's journey through the 'stages of grief'.
Think of it like Bo Burnham's movie "Inside".
That movie... musical?... didn't have conflict in the traditional sense either.
Cabin fever and lonelienes was the name of the game for "Inside", grief and acceptance seems to be so for this story.
11699677
And here I was hoping to see R-Dizzy say "its dizzin' time" then diz all over Anon.
What a shame.
Well, I'm hoping for something better for Anon here. Maybe magic will give him something to look forward to. I know that, if I were in this situation, I don't think I'd want to live very long. Living and living are definitely two different things.
Though I'm confused why even Celestia has not told him what has actually happened... Figured she'd want to have that cleared as soon as possible.
11699677
That's a relief. To be honest, I felt as though it was a joke...
To paraphrase The Genie in Aladdin: "Tell, him, THE TRUTH!!!"
(... I actually had a thought on how Anon might be able to move again. I say might because I do not, of course, know the limitations of this world of magic.
However, basically, an exoskeleton. A mechanical apparatus bound to his body that is enchanted to respond to his mental commands, and does the movement for him. No idea how simple, or complicated, such a thing would be. But if his limbs don't work, make a machine that can attach and do the work for them.)
Damn, that is just so gut-wrenching. Not being able to do the most basic things is a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone.
man i feel bad for steve here
11700402
Celestia did just offer to take Anon to meet [presumably] other severely disabled individuals. Hopefully this would involve meaningfully addressing the obvious quality-of-life concerns instead of just paving over them with generic power-of-friendship type stuff.
11706715
"Tanks for the Memories" has some scenes where Tank's propeller stops and starts on its own, implying that Tank is controlling it mentally - in essence, the magical equivalent of a brain-machine interface. So something like that could be possible.
Can’t wait for another war zone in the comments
11707545
Another?
I'm a strong advocate for "the right time, the right place" for everything. If Anon didn't remember of Dash's involvement at all, it would be better to nor reveal it until later, but here Anon falsely thinks that Dash saved him. That's bad, like really bad. Should've broken that notion the first time it popped up, else the problem snowballs down the line.
11698966
He isn't thinking clearly enough to figure it out. He just been told that he can't move anything below the neck and is barely handling the news. He has the pieces but he can't imagine rainbow hurting him even by accident because he thinks she saved him.
Wouldn’t that be a Clip-Clop prankster?
Well, I mean, she puts up with her nephew and that defines him pretty well.
11772716
Sobrino que ella abandonó y expuso a los peores monstruos de la vida política.
My reaction to Author's Note:
i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/736/665/a94.gif
wow * much laffs * y u trollin doge * many lolz * wat u smokin can i has sum? * R-Dizzy 4eva