Hospice Outline (w/associated lore)

Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:13 PM
quick preference
what other antlers albums have you listened to?
HeartshineYesterday at 7:13 PM
I know I've listened to one other
cause my friend who loves them linked it to me
I can't remember which off hand
it may have been Undersea
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:15 PM
undersea is a good one! further into the story tho
for a brief background
this story stars Caramel
who is a background pony i wrote a lot about back in the day, apparently no one gives a fuck about him anymore? bizarre
he's the caramel coated, brown maned stallion that shows up in ponyville marketplace/the apple family stead a lot
anyway, caramel's mother when she was younger ventured deep into the everfree when she was younger
and met a tribe of deer that lives deep in the heart of the everfree
she moved there, fell in love with a stag, and had caramel
there was a wildfire (since yknow the everfree is completely unregulated and all)
HeartshineYesterday at 7:17 PM
makes sense
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:17 PM
and they had to leave
caramel's father is horribly wounded in the fire
HeartshineYesterday at 7:18 PM
:<
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:21 PM
sorry got distracted briefly
anyway so he manages to get caramel's mom back to ponyville
and he succumbs to his injuries
caramel's mom gets him to ponyville general but it's not enough
and he spends the next few months slowly dying from the burns/infections/etc (not described in detail bc this isnt that kind of story)
this impacts a lot of caramel's
very early memories
of his mother going to visit his father in hospice as he slowly dies
some time flash forwards and caramel's mom is becoming
weirder
more spiritual, and more distant
caramel spends a lot of time alone
but soon makes friends at ponyville elementary
specifically big mac and thunderlane
HeartshineYesterday at 7:23 PM
nods
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:24 PM
he spends a lot of time at sweet apple acres
since thunderlane doesnt have the best homelife himself
(thunderlane's story is for brand new's albums though)
but the three become inseparable
and soon, caramel is basically living at sweet apple acres
one night, when he goes home after spending about a week at SAA
he finds his mom is gone
with nothing more than a note saying "sorry"
he spends his teens between sweet apple acres and his old home
HeartshineYesterday at 7:26 PM
sounds lonely
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:26 PM
it was
he had big mac and thunderlane though
even if big mac had the death of his parents and thunderlane had lots of fucking to do
distracting them both
but they still stood by him
eventually, caramel falls in love with Roseluck
who is of course part of the flower trio
Daisy and Lily being the other two
HeartshineYesterday at 7:27 PM
yep yep!
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:27 PM
Roseluck is in a relationship with Lily
HeartshineYesterday at 7:27 PM
oh
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:27 PM
who is Daisy's stepsister
Roseluck is very much a lesbian
but she loves caramel dearly
just platonically
they get along really well
caramel spends a good deal of time trying to come forward about his feelings
and can never manage to
daisy is also one of thunderlane's long term friends
and she is v important to the brand new stories
with some overlap to the antlers ones
HeartshineYesterday at 7:29 PM
ah, okay
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:29 PM
after a few years of this pink triangle bullshit
caramel meets minuette
or rather, who he believes is minuette
after a few months of dating
minuette reveals she's a changeling
this is long before s6
so changelings are mostly beholden to chrysalis
and unreformed
this one is more of a
solitary locust
though
like Thorax
HeartshineYesterday at 7:30 PM
mmhmm, makes sense
they're kinda... the ones that don't fit
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:31 PM
she's scared and terrified, she runs and hides and blends in constantly
she reveals some of her deepest, darkest secrets to caramel
and he does to her in kind
at this point, we are caught up to where Hospice begins
the prologue starts as thus:
Caramel is in his old family home
trying to make himself some tea
but he can't shake the feeling of being chastised
HeartshineYesterday at 7:32 PM
oh dear
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:33 PM
as if he's doing something wrong
at all times
and he keeps seeing shadowy figures in his home
some very equine
almost motherly in presence
and others insectoid
rapidly changing shape
and terrifying
he hits down at the table
places two caramels in his tea
and closes his eyes as he begins to remember
in kettering
we are presented with an adult caramel
probably same age as the mane six, maybe slightly younger
this is set about season 1
HeartshineYesterday at 7:38 PM
oh, okay?
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:40 PM
sorry, had to pause to grab some water
my b
HeartshineYesterday at 7:40 PM
no no, you're good! I'm listening! Erm, reading
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:40 PM
anyway at this point, he has been volunteering at the ponyville hospice
for a long time
since he was a late teenager
this time, he goes in
not expecting anything
his last "patient" (he's more there as someone to keep ponies company)
died a few months ago and they've told him there's nopony else currently who is in need of his services
but when he goes in this time
they give him somepony new
it's a pegasus mare from Phillydelphia
moved to ponyville to raise her colt
contracted terminal bone cancer and is now in hospice
HeartshineYesterday at 7:42 PM
oof
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:42 PM
when he first gets there
she's pretty reluctant to talk to him
rude, really
HeartshineYesterday at 7:44 PM
which, fair. A common reaction when you're in hospice.
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:44 PM
of course
especially since she's about
mid thirties
most of the other patients are very old
her life was literally right in stride
and she got slapped with this
caramel manages to make some headway on his first visit
she goes from "actively hostile" to "cautiously hostile"
and the things he learns about her, her life in phillydelphia, her foal
the more he begins to develop an emotional connection to her
but there's something lurking in the back of his mind
waiting
gnawing
like a hungry, hungry locust
HeartshineYesterday at 7:46 PM
oh dear
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:46 PM
he leaves the hospice
and enter Sylvia
the chapter anyway
Solitaire is the name of the changeling
she was para's oc she used the most
an abused, lost changeling
disconnected from the hive, desperately pretending to be ponies to feed and feel
her preferred pony form was minuette
she seemed harmless
i also started writing this fic in 2013 before para or minuette had proper development
so i did some synthesis nonsense
after both events occurred (very close to one another in fact!)
HeartshineYesterday at 7:48 PM
makes sense
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:48 PM
the uh
para incident
happened two days before the s5 premier
HeartshineYesterday at 7:48 PM
:<
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:48 PM
the show has a very clear divide for me as such
anyway, solitaire/minuette is very abusive and flippant
and she's been so used to changing identities
she rapidly flips through them
she can't even really remember who "solitaire" is
which was just an identity she gave herself when she first broke away from the hive anyway
HeartshineYesterday at 7:50 PM
right
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:50 PM
caramel is very sensitive, passive, and soft spoken
hates confrontation
he is the perfect punching bag for solitaire
emotionally AND physically
because she can get violent
it's how she learned to survive, after all
there's a scene where caramel goes home, solitaire goes on a diatribe against him because she had a shitty day at work
solitaire shapeshifts into minuette and larps as a dentist since she's settled into ponyville
i'm thinking of using "colgate" as her name
to connect her to the fandom name
and to distinguish her as a different pony
just one that looks... weirdly identical to minuette
might change the cutie marks too
anyway, she shoves/hits caramel, which sets him off balance
and he hits his head on the side of a table
HeartshineYesterday at 7:55 PM
oh dear
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:55 PM
she leaves to go upstairs
and caramel goes to the bathroom to clean and bandage his head
upon doing so while looking in the mirror
he can see for just a second
a flicker
of what he swears is his mother
next day, back at the hospice
Victory Rose, his new patient, is much more talkative this time
she seems to have warmed a bit more
caramel talks to her, and the more he does
the more he learns
and the happier she seems to become
about halfway through he notices she now has a morphine drip
which wasnt there yesterday
HeartshineYesterday at 7:57 PM
ah
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:58 PM
he rides with this, and she tells him that she's been reading a great book recently
"The Jarred Bell"
she got it yesterday after he left
and she says if he can get one from golden oaks
he should
HeartshineYesterday at 7:58 PM
the jarred bell. XD
Numb To NothingYesterday at 7:58 PM
hey, if there's not a little bit of humor
a story can be too bleak to get through
on his way back home from the hospice
he encounters pinkie pie
he works at bon bon's sweetshop, which supplies sugarcube corner a lot, and sees pinkie often anyway for
obvious reasons
so of course, pinkie is his friend, but moreso than she's everypony's friend
they talk, and she notices he has the jarred bell, which victory rose had given him
since she said she'd read a good portion and needed some time to process it
(plus being doped up made her more carefree and generous)
pinkie notices the copy and recognizes it
and after a moment tells caramel that she knows where she's seen it before
that's Rarity's copy of the jarred bell
and she opens the cover and notes rarity's signature in neat little script at the bottom of the title page
HeartshineYesterday at 8:02 PM
oh dear
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:02 PM
caramel goes back home
solitaire isn't there
he sits down and starts to read the jarred bell
now, this chapter covers rthe span of a few weeks
and it is not told in order
caramel increases his visits to the hospice
learning more about who victory rose is and who she was before the cancer
and he keeps trying to find rarity
who refuses to talk to him
and in fact
seems to be avoiding him
what's more unsettling about this ordeal to caramel personally is that
well, he's no longer attracted to solitaire for obvious reasons
and he never exactly
fell out of love with roseluck
he used solitaire as a distraction
he meets with roseluck, and tells her about victory rose
while, funnily enough
they tend to a patch of victory roses
roseluck suggest him something daisy told her
that despite how painful, and how used to doing something you may be
you have to cut it out before it destroys what you love
HeartshineYesterday at 8:05 PM
oh dear
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:05 PM
she makes this emphasis by cutting off a dying bit of one of the roses
to clarify
caramel has been muddling the description of his time with victory rose
with his time with solitaire
and it's not subtle
especially not to roseluck
one of his closest friends
HeartshineYesterday at 8:06 PM
of course not, yeah she'd see that
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:06 PM
and the whole town... kinda knows about it
it's a small town
also thunderlane sucks and cant keep his mouth shut
HeartshineYesterday at 8:07 PM
poor Thunderlane
so abused
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:09 PM
oh yeah
if you'd like, when it's not so late at night
i can give you the brand new/thunderlane story
that's one of my proudest works
but yes
atrophy ends
with caramel going home
HeartshineYesterday at 8:10 PM
oh sure!
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:10 PM
his head swirling with thoughts of solitaire, rarity, bon bon, roseluck, daisy
his mother
everypony
stares up directly into the chandelier
and it begins to spin
faster and faster
more and more dizzying
and he lapses into a dream
and Bear begins
in this dream
solitaire is minuetter
but she's a bear/pony hybrid
at least her top half his
her lover half is some crab/beetle thing
and where her middle is supposed to be
is a giant, gaping jaw, filled with sharp, mishappen teeth
clacking mandable
and really it doesn't look like a mouth beyond the jaw aspect
it looks like a vagina
the creature crawls over to him and mounts him
lowering her head down to babble a mixture of berating and idolizing compliments
teeth digging into his thighs and stomach
feeling like he might get sucked up inside her
HeartshineYesterday at 8:13 PM
winces
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:13 PM
and then she releases him
picks him up in her hoof/claws
and takes him to a bizarre version of ponyville
Big Mac, but she's a mare
Thunderlane laughing and playing with Rumble and an older mare who looks very similar to them
all the buildings are out of place
twisting in and out of themselves
if they need to be somewhere, they're there
at this point, though
even though maybe an hour or ttwo have passed according to caramel
the solitaire-colgate creature has become
very pregnant
and before he knows it
he's helping give birth to a mass of misshapen ponies, changelings, bears, and everywhere in between
the jaws clenching down
trying to break caramel's forelimbs
trying to consume the children
and most  of them are dead or dying by the time that the creature finishes
except one
a perfect little bear cub
no trace of insect or even pony
the creature and caramel move out to the everfree
they find a cave, and they live there
and years go by
the creature growing larger and more grotesque
caramel more sickly and skeletal
but the bear cub seems to be doing just fine
until one day
when caramel feels like he might be getting used to this life
he sees that the cub has sprouted small
but noticeable
antlers
and he brushes a hoof under his mane and feels the same on his head
and he wakes up in the chair, the sun rising
the sounds of solitaire clattering around upstairs echoing down to him
more time passes
a few weeks
victory rose is definitely getting worse
but she loves to see caramel
and caramel loves to see her
but he can't help but to think how guilty he is
victory was not in that dream
and the dream has been haunting him every night
HeartshineYesterday at 8:20 PM
oh dear
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:20 PM
not that it keeps replaying
it only happened once
but it echoes through his mind as he tries to sleep
and sleep is a void
he hears from blossomforth, a member of the celestia's light cult which has been around for roughly 1000 years
standin for christianity
specifically new american breeds
to try praying to luna to see if she'll help
he groans, foregoes this, and asks twilight to directly speak to luna
while he's there he asks about why rarity is avoiding him
and twilight is oddly silent
fast forward again
roseluck and daisy are getting married
i mistakenly said early she was in a relationship with lily
lily is the stepsister of daisy, who is in a relationship with roseluck
checkin my notes
at the wedding, caramel has
mixed feelings
he's happy roseluck is happy
and he's mostly resigned himself to the fact he'll never be with her
but still
he's definitely in pain
HeartshineYesterday at 8:24 PM
supportive of best friend, avoiding Chasing Amy situations, yeah that's fair
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:25 PM
we're in 13 now btw, don't remember if i mentioned
but the wedding goes well
HeartshineYesterday at 8:25 PM
I've been kinda following by theme, tbh
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:25 PM
caramel quells his urges to ruin the thing by declaring his love in an incredibly cringy public display
awesome! glad it works so well
and right as the
whatever is the party after the official ceremony is called
blanking rn
during that, he notices derpy approaching
but she's wearing her uniform
it's not like she wasnt invited, but since it IS a saturday (or pony equivilent)
she technically still has to be on the job
and derpy is good like that
she stays on it
she comes by the wedding with a lot of mail for roseluck and daisy
mostly wedding presents
and then gives Thunderlane a letter too
thunderlane opens it
blah sorry
i am drunk
caramel!
caramel, not thunderlane
HeartshineYesterday at 8:28 PM
oh no you're fine
I like listening!
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:28 PM
anyway caramel opens the letter and it's written on hospice stationary
on one side
in shaky, penmenship
is "thank you - VR"
and on the other
in ornate, flowery, delicate writing
is "thank you - WP"
caramel feels a sinking pit in his stomach
and he dashes from the wedding instantly to the hospice
and Two begins
the majority of two is focused around Victory Rose's final 24 hours
HeartshineYesterday at 8:30 PM
WP?
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:30 PM
deep lore about her parents and childhood
well, no point in hiding spoilers i suppose
since none of this gets resolved in hospice
and is related more to other stories that interweve with The Antlers series
HeartshineYesterday at 8:30 PM
ah, okay
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:30 PM
WP stands for White Pony
HeartshineYesterday at 8:31 PM
oh!
okay
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:31 PM
which is Rarity's covername in a VFD/SCP hybrid secret society i made up for this verse
HeartshineYesterday at 8:31 PM
oh
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:31 PM
Bon Bon/Sweetie Drops belongs to it
HeartshineYesterday at 8:31 PM
*oh*
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:31 PM
Victory Rose was Rarity's field partner
god damn i love thomas pynchon
neither scp or series of unfortunate events would exist without him
i need to read more of him
crying of lot 49 ;~;
anyway, victory rose babbles a lot in her final hours to caramel about the things she saw
and the things she did
but she never once brings up rarity
she's loyal to the end
Caramel is kind of connecting dots
and of course
rarity wrote to him
of her own volition
caramel confirms this by comparing the signature inside the jarred bell to the thank you letter
HeartshineYesterday at 8:34 PM
right
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:35 PM
victory rose dies holding caramel's hoof
and caramel holds on to it for a moment
before letting it slip away
and he slumps down on a chair on the other side of the room
and lapses into a similar dream state he did with the chandelier
he's in a hospital bed
but he's victory rose
and he realizes
victory rose was in the dream
with the creature
and it had been him
HeartshineYesterday at 8:37 PM
oh
;-;
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:37 PM
there's a point to have caramel never see his reflection in "Bear"
or how he occassionally has wings
and then doesnt
and why he becomes
more and more sickly
HeartshineYesterday at 8:38 PM
right
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:38 PM
the doctors in the hospice come in
all ones he knows well
he's been volunteering for a long time
and they starts cutting into him
peeling off his skin like latex
and beneath it is a changeling
solitaire
caramel goes into full on panic attack
and tries to break free of the cot restraints
and can't
tries to change
and cant
Colgate walks into the room
and drops a golden ring on his chitinous underbelly
my headcanon is unicorns have rings for their horns
for marriage
other ponies use fetlock cuffs or wear the ring around their neck
on a chain or something
HeartshineYesterday at 8:41 PM
right
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:41 PM
so she leaves
and victory rose comes in
and leans down to kiss him
and she does, and it feels great
and he feels himself coursing with love
feeding on it
growing stronger, growing more powerful
maybe those restraints aren't so difficult after all
maybe he can change
flickers with a green glow
and opens his eyes
flooded with euphoria
and the kiss breaks
as it does
the mask of victory's face sloughs off
half ceramic, half melting flesh
and beneath it is Roseluck's
HeartshineYesterday at 8:42 PM
;-;
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:43 PM
and caramel is overcome with the sudden flood of why he goes to the hospice
and what he does
and what he is
arching his back against the restraints
he tries to break free once more
and to change
and in a burst of green light
he becomes a stag
and sees as a mare
whose face is rapidly oscillating between roseluck and his mother's
comes closer and closer to him
lips formed in a ring, ready to kiss
he charges out the window
four stories up, mind you
and lands antlers first onto the cobblestone outside the building
he wakes up on the edge of the everfree
his head pounding and some dirt and scratches in his coat
but otherwise fine
he heads back home
Wake begins
he returns to the hospice
and they stop him
he's not allowed back
something to do with "personal attachment to the last patient"
HeartshineYesterday at 8:47 PM
:<
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:47 PM
he spends a lot of time wandering around ponyville in a haze
a stupor
he's not a drinking like mac or thunderlane though
or even roseluck
he just wanders around, sleeps outside for a few weeks
and when he comes home
he finds a note from solitaire
she's left
it's full of insults and the like
about how caramel was weak
would rather fuck some lesbian or cancer patient
(solitaire was always angry whenever caramel hung out with anyone but her, but victory rose got her especially)
caramel mopes around his house (and this is HIS house, solitaire moved into his house he inherited from his mother when she disappeared)
there are visitors
pinkie
bon bon
big mac
thunderlane
applejack (caramel is close to the whole apple family in ponyville in general)
but he just feels
empty
HeartshineYesterday at 8:50 PM
understandably
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:50 PM
nothing can really make this better
one night
roseluck shows up
she is very drunk
and she collapses on caramel's couch
caramel listens to her sob about current relationship issues she's having with daisy
acts as her shoulder
and the whole time
he can feel that same warm feeling from that dream
like he's feeding off of what she's saying
roseluck turns to caramel
HeartshineYesterday at 8:52 PM
oh dear
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:52 PM
tears in her eyes
and says "you know, caramel, if I wasn't a lesbian, I would be with you in a heartbeat. I love you."
and caramel bites back a sob, gets off the couch
gets her a glass of water and a blanket
and goes back to his room
a few days later
caramel finishes the jarred bell
and starts cleaning up his house
which is a mess
and full of reminders of solitaire
he plans to burn those
while he's cleaning, he hears a knock
and it's rarity
she asks to come inside
caramel lets her
rarity asks him how he liked the jarred bell
caramel said he enjoyed it
"the end was a bit optimistic"
rarity laughs softly
silence for a second
and then rarity basically does the whole "don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that" bit
and caramel is a bit shocked
because more intimate details about what solitaire would do to him
especially sexual ones
he reserved for victory
who had then told rarity
caramel is furious
but then realizes
victory is dead
rarity is the only other pony who
actually knows the extent of what solitaire did to him
"would you like to talk about it? on your terms?"
caramel is quiet
"yes"
Epilogue begins
HeartshineYesterday at 8:58 PM
nods
Numb To NothingYesterday at 8:58 PM
who knows how long it's been since victory died and solitaire left
caramel has been going to work again
but he's quiet the whole time
bon bon doesn'tprod
pinkie tried cheering him up but stopped out of respect the sixth or seventh time
roseluck and caramel have been hanging out a lot
and by that, more than he hangs out with anypony else
which is to say he goes to her flowerstand after work every day
says hello
has small talk
buys a rose
a victory rose
and goes home
every night he is plagued by dreams
luna never got back to twilight
when caramel asks about it one day, Twilight seems concerned and... redactive
about what she's saying
caramel gives up
HeartshineYesterday at 9:01 PM
right, as you kinda do when you're... drained
Numb To NothingYesterday at 9:02 PM
yeah
resigns himself to the sleepless night
most of the dreams are just about victory dying
or the creature doing something awful to him
or the bear cub crying out for attention
and caramel recoiling from its antlers
caramel does have two constant visitors during this entire time
big mac
and thunderlane
they come for a couple hours, bring him stuff
talk to him
try to cheer him up
thunderlane showing up drunk more often than not but
it's the thought that counts
HeartshineYesterday at 9:03 PM
nods
Numb To NothingYesterday at 9:03 PM
and caramel wishes that could be enough
and sometimes
he feels it might be
after they both come over one night
they have a couple of drinks
caramel, usually never drinking, has exactly one sweet apple acres hard cider
has a great night
everything feels amazing, light, fluffy
bubbly
the alcohol starts to make him sleepy
he collapses into bed, drifting off
into a hazy, warm void...
suddenly he feels a hoof against him
something in the bed shift
his eyes open
staring back at him, the faces mixed so much he can only say it was all of them
are roseluck, victory, and his mother
she presses her face up against his
and it changes to solitaires'
mandibles clacking
caramel scrambles from the bed, and flings himself against his windowsill
thrusts it open
when he was a foal, after his mother left
he had spent a night up on the roof
staring up at the sky
gazing deep into the stars
just hoping to be lost in it all
but as he gets to the windowsill he didnt exactly
account for how much time he'd lost track of
and everything is snow and icy
as he tries to go from his window to the roof, which is about six feet away from said window
he slips
hits his head off the gutter
and falls to the ground
but as he does, he can feel everything spinning
just like it did with the chandelier
and victory's death
everything slows down as he plummets towards the ground
and he realizes that maybe
this isn't so bad after all
light shining down from the moon between gently falling snowflakes
HeartshineYesterday at 9:09 PM
:<
Numb To NothingYesterday at 9:09 PM
a pegasus hovers over him
victory rose
and he smiles
closes his eyes
and he feels somepony's hooves grasping him
and blacks out
le fin