Name: Dew Star

Sex: Female

Age: 24

Occupation: Librarian

Appearance: Sun-gold coat, long and unkempt bleach-blonde mane, grey eyes, muscular pegasus build, bandaged wing

Session Number: 9

“How’s it going, Dew Star?”

“A-alright,” she stuttered as she carefully stepped through my door, being sure to not make eye contact. Figuring following was self-explanatory, I headed to the sitting room and sat down with my usual materials. When I didn’t see her sitting in in the chaise longue, I sighed and rubbed my face.

“Why don’t you come have a seat?”

“T-thank you,” she quietly replied as she quickly trotted over and sat down. When I usually meet this girl, I give her a while to get comfortable before asking her anything, so a few silent minutes went by.

“U-um,” she spoke up, surprising me.

“Yeah?”

“I…I lied…”

“About what?”

“M-me doing alright… t-things haven’t gotten any better…”

“That’s alright. Rehabilitation takes time, especially after what you went through.”

“B-but… everypony else is doing better than me… I-I’m the only one who still has trouble t-talking or doing things on my own,” she said as she fidgeted in her seat, “c-coming to see you is the only thing I can do.”

“Well, that’s something.”

“I-I guess… I just want to be able to do more…”

“…Alright, look. I know you’re eager to go back to being the pony you used to be, but from what I understand, the Changeling Invasion was a big deal. A lot of ponies have lost someone or something and I can guarantee you that they’ve all felt as bad as you do at some point; just be patient with yourself and give it some time… and if it makes you feel any better to know, *sigh* I’ll still be here willing to listen to whatever you have to say.”

“…Thanks,” she mumbled as she turned and flashed me a small smile. We went back to sitting in silence, my scribbling and her hooves tapping together nervously being the only audible sounds. With a sigh I got out of my seat, picked her up, and laid down on the longue with her on my chest. She told me that closeness and cuddling was a thing that her support group used to do that made her feel better, but now that it’s been disbanded she doesn’t have anyone to do it with. She was stiff for a few seconds but quickly relaxed and laid her head on my shoulder while I kept drawing.

“…I-I haven’t had any nightmares in a few days.”

“I guess Princess Luna is doing her job then.”

“No, I-I mean… usually, when I do have nightmares about… about-”

“When you were kidnapped?”

“Y-yeah… usually, the nightmares start right when I fall asleep and the princess would stop them before they got too bad… but the last few days, t-they didn’t start right away. T-they were actually nice for once.”

“What were they like?”

“…W-well, my coltfriend was there, I was still in the Royal Guard, and my wing wasn’t messed up.”

“I’m sure that was nice.”

“A-and… you were there too.”

“Me?” I asked as my drawing hand stopped, “Why me?”

“I-I don’t know… but, yeah; it was nice.” The rest of the time was spent in silence as I went back to my drawing and she actually fell asleep for a while.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized as I saw her out.

“Don’t worry about it. Same time next week?”

“Definitely,” she said with a smile. For whatever reason, I felt compelled to reach out and pet her, but I caught myself mid-reach. Unfortunately, she met me the rest of the way and nuzzled my hand before turning and leaving.

Observations: It’s already been a while, but she still has a ways to go before she won’t need me. I haven’t seen her interact with others so I’m not sure if she’s really as bad as she says; I might need to investigate this. Coincidentally, she lives in the same building I do, so that shouldn’t be hard. Ponies must be more uncaring than I assumed; I thought the point of support groups was to support, not give up, but I won’t. Not yet at least.

Author's Note

Thanks to Architect of Realities for the idea, and OMG, is this character development?! Does our OC actually feel compassion? From the looks of things, maybe, but we'll see. I forgot to mention this last time, but I just finished watching Mr.Robot and holy shit is it awesome; so much so that it's been a source of inspiration. I would highly recommend watching.