A Second of Sanity

by Fireflower

Rediscovery

Author's Note:

My name is Fireflower and this is my first My Little Pony Fanfic, using normal canon characters that is rated T for Teen; therefore, it is no clop fic whatsoever but it does have some moments of violence to a small extent.

As for continuity, this would be set after the Season Two Episode Read It and Weep.

Anyways, I just want to state for the record that My Little Pony, or rather Friendship Is Magic and its setting and characters belongs to Lauren Faust and Hasbro; also, considering that the fanfic itself is inspired by a work of fanart, all credits should go to IslaMilenaria.

Enjoy it while you can 'cause this could break your train of thought.

Lycanthropy: it was the one thing that had most described me ever since I can now recall waking back up again; to me, it was the one moment in my life it had became my own living nightmare.

Many ponies equated me to like that of a canine because of my new mannerisms: chasing my own tail, digging the ground, biting myself; the one key aspect that had separated me from the rest of society was the fact that I had kept on barking like there was no tomorrow.

I even once had a bone in my mouth that tasted like a biscuit and it made me act even out of control.

Lurking next to the padded edges of my room, I sit up and I start to cry, wondering about my very life before it had went horribly wrong as it were.

Since my stay, people either nicknamed me Barking Mad because of how I act or Screw Loose because of the cutie mark on my own flank; of course, they were never my real names at all contrary to their opinions.

I had a loving family that cared: my mother, Goldcrest, and my twin sister, Shoeshine; we used had a father back when the two of us were foals but he's sadly no longer with the circle anymore.

Despite our shared hardships, we were able to live in peace and have a normal fillyhood like any other pony in Equestria: we had gone on picnics, went to school, and even seen a film or two.

One favorite thing I can remember was how I could build the tallest structures with those building blocks at the old schoolhouse; my teacher said I had a lot of ingenuity and creativity at my disposal.

Of course, it didn't even stop there: one time, I had wanted to make a birdhouse and despite a few mistakes here and there, I was able to succeed; as a result, I had been able to find my new calling as a small–time carpenter.

While that a bolt acted as my own cutie mark, my twin had found her calling as a farmer and gardener: Shoeshine had a pair of horseshoes interlocking with one another; she said it was because of the time she had brought a successful harvest.

As we had both grown up and went on our respective paths, we had made a sisterly pact to never forget each other no matter what; little did I know, I was going to end up breaking it over the years.

I looked towards the cutie mark upon my flank and I had found myself drowning into another part in time where my life had gone further downward into a spiral.

While my sister and mother had moved away and went off to Appleloosa, I had gone and went on over to Dodge City looking for a job with my skills as an architect.

There was at least one pony who was the very first to accept me on the construction team: her name was Ambrosia and she hailed from Ponyville just like me; anyway, I had been given an assignment to help with the new apartment complex.

I had always wanted to see what it would be like to be a part of something big; I would never even thought of dreaming such a feat in the first place: with this piece of residence, more ponies would be able to live here so the overcrowding at my hometown would be averted in the near future.

During those times in Dodge City, I had been able to form a bond with the other builders on the job and talk about our lives occasionally.

Of course, the irony began to hit me one day: during lunch time, a steel tube had fallen from the structure and one of my coworkers warned me to get out of the way but I was too late; it wasn't long until it had been drilled into the back of my own brain thanks to the fact that I had taken my hat off.

It wasn't long until I had started to see darkness; it was without a doubt a time when I was about to die because of such an accident on the job.

Gazing at the light by the room, I started to wail loudly as more pictures of my life came into the brain.

A normal pony such as myself should have been dead from such an injury but something different had happened to me instead: sirens were echoing into my head and they were being mixed in with the shouting of other ponies but they weren't like the ones from my workplace.

My eyes were opened and I had woken up on a hospital bed back in Ponyville with my family here visiting as if they had heard the news of the accident over at Dodge City; unfortunately, I had wished these were under pleasant circumstances like before.

Instead of being able to even at least say hi or anything, I was acting all jumpy and barking about as if I was ready to bite someone; sadly, my mom ended up being attacked in the process.

It wasn't long until I had felt something pierce my hoof: a syringe being held up a strange aura I had remembered belonging to a doctor of some sort; before long, I started to fade away into darkness again.

I had thought that I was going to die again because of how long I had spent in such an unconscious state; but, I had found myself in the hooves of my mother and she ended up saying something that reached my ears: "it's okay, Firebolt; it's not your fault, sweetie."

"I'M SORRY...!" the first two words had came out of my muzzle, no longer in the form of barking that had defined myself as I stayed in my puddle of tears; soon, I had collapsed into the floor and cried myself to sleep.

Comments

[pulcheriopolis]

Neat. But maybe you should ease up on the tags.
.

[JFalk]

The concept is nice and you described Screw Loose's tragic situation well, but I can't stop to feel that you could have add more details to the narration.

And I agree with hazorus29: I don't think that the tags Gore, Dark and Horror are fitting for this story - Drama, Tragedy and Sad already covers the subject better.

[Fireflower]

6687570

Thanks...

[Fireflower]

6687623

It was a drabble that I have made last night; it was also an assignment that I intend to turn over to my teacher...

Besides, near death experiences here and there in the form of a Phineas Gage prompt is well fitting for the most part.

[Scooter Dracon]

Great story! I really like this imagining of Screwloose's past.

[Fireflower]

6708697

Thanx...

[Rakkit_Brony]

this was really good screw loose is one of my favorite background pony's so its nice to see nicer back story for this character.
P.S im going to be uploading this story on my YouTube channel and it would be nice if you could listen to it and give me any feedback on it :)

[Fireflower]

6863364

Thanks; also, you're doing a live reading on it...? That's nice...

[Rakkit_Brony]

6863539 yeah im releasing it on Monday on The Raucous Narrator if you want to check it out.

[Fireflower]

6864421

Thanx...!

[LyraAlluse]

I like this oneshot about screw loose/ barking mad. I like fan fictions which kind of explore the character more. Some are funny, some are more dramatic. I like that yours takes a more introspective approach and delves into her past. I'd like to see more stories like this.

[Fireflower]

11374553

Thanks, it came from a prompt I had written seven years ago in college; the artwork was the vertebrae behind it all, especially with the link in question: they say a picture is worth a thousand words for a reason. If anything, a review alone is what I find more cherishing than a thumbs up as is despite the differences between the two websites.

[LyraAlluse]

11374635 You are welcome for the review. I kind of would be interested in seeing this expanded into a series going into the relationship with her family, potential allies, foes, and maybe somehow coming to terms with herself and others being able to accept her for who she is.

[Fireflower]

11374637

It's not a problem but I had only intended for it to be a one shot for a good reason; after all, I had a lot on my plate when it'd came to writing fanfiction: War Orphans' Wishes was a major factor at large so to speak of...

[LyraAlluse]

11374727 Ah I see, that's understandable. Well keep up the good work with your writing. :3

[Fireflower]

11374746

Thanks...

[LyraAlluse]

11375068 You are very welcome. :3

[Fireflower]

11375144

No problem...