If I didn't trust Doctor Coal Hammer before, now I can't trust him as far as I could throw him. I'm a below average height little mare and I'm well over a head shorter than him. Not very far. He's got me sitting across from him at a table after hours when most of the hospital staff has gone home for the day and I also have electrodes attached to wires taped on various spots on my forehead. Clutzy watched helplessly as I was treated like a lab rat and began to panic and desperately tried to pick up small items to make his presence known. He must think that doing so could halt the torment.

The first experiment he's making be do is rather simple albeit painful for me and it gets worse with each turn we take. He holds up several cards with different shapes on the backside and asks me...scratch that, tells me to guess the shape on the card before he shows it to me and either tells me I'm correct or...

"Yipe!" I squeaked as I received a small but very unwelcome jolt of electricity upon making a wrong guess.

"Okay sweetie, let's try this again." Doctor Coal Hammer said as he placed down the card with a star on it and picked up another one. "Concentrate now. Think hard, you can do this. What's on this card?"

"Erm...is it...shit, I really don't want you to zap me again...a square?"

"Ooooh...close but not quite."

Coal Hammer then flipped the card over revealing to me that the image was instead a triangle. I gulped nervously as he reached for a button on a small control panel in front of him.

"Yahow!" I yelled as I received another shock. "That hurt even worse!"

"That's correct dear, they just get stronger with each one you get wrong."

"Do they get weaker with each one I get right?"

"No. Here, let's try this one. What's on the card?"

"Umm..."

"Concentrate."

"Okay is it...a figure eight?"

"This just isn't your day."

He chuckled as he flipped over the card to show me that instead it was a circle. I think the few I got right were just plain dumb luck. Just like the last dozen or so times, he tapped the button, giving me a shock even worse than all the others.

"Ahh! How long do we have to do this!?" I asked, getting far more upset than ever before.

"Relax, you've only got seventy five more to go."

"Oh come on!"

"You need to calm down if you want this to work. See, this is why you're getting most of them wrong. Just clear your mind. What's on the card?"

"Fuck it...a couple of wavy lines?"

"Ooooh! So close! Three wavy lines, not a couple."

Once again, he pressed the button, giving me a tear inducing jolt.

"Wahahow!! What the fuck is the point of all this!?"

"We're simply trying to test the effects of negative reinforcement on a pony's psychokinetic abilities."

"I'll tell you the effect! It's pissing me off!"

Evidently, Coal Hammer was unmoved by my protests and eventual pleads for him to stop the experiment and we saw it the whole way through. Using process of elimination, I recalled which shapes he had already pulled and surprisingly began getting many of them right however, I got my fair share of them wrong as well. I wasn't spared any painful zaps and it seemed like it hit a plateau and stopped getting stronger, though Coal Hammer never told me that and I wasn't about to ask in case it reminded him to turn up a dial or something.

At least I can be thankful that we were only doing one experiment today and Coal Hammer brought me back to my little room where I could spend time with my little ghost buddy and maybe watch some tv while we were at it. Needless to say, I was exhausted, frustrated, scared, and really dreading what was to come next. There's got to be some way I can get a hold of Doctor Bleeding Heart and bring this shit to his attention. Aside from Clutzy, he seems to be the only one I can truly trust around here and I know for damn sure, performing experiments on patients isn't within hospital protocol nor is it legal.

I spent a few minutes flipping through channels until something in the form of a news bulletin caught our eyes. I wasn't a stranger to seeing my photo on the news as since that fateful day, my mugshot was a regular sight. This time however, the picture of me that floated up to the top left corner of the screen wasn't my mugshot but instead a photo of myself on my high school graduation day. I was obviously overjoyed having reached such a chapter in my life and I was pleasantly surprised to be shown in a different light from before, going from being shown as a negligent reckless moron to just a regular pony with a regular life. I need to see this.

"More on the story of Creampuff Lime, the young lady whom served a year in jail for her actions leading to the death of a ten year old colt unboarding a school bus last Spring." The News anchor began as Clutzy and I leaned towards the tv. "Oswaggo County's village of Trottski has been dealt another hard blow as Miss Lime is taken by ambulance to a psychiatric facility after neighbors express concern over an alleged suicide attempt. Dozens of residents of Trottski have admitted to harassment and ostracizing of Miss Lime and her family and have made public apologies following a press conference with Trottski's mayor and police chief. The two village officials had the following to say..."

The scene on the tv the switched to the aforementioned press conference that took place at the gazebo in the village park. Easily half or more of the village population was gathered to hear the mayor and police chief throw in their two bits regarding me and my pupils fully dilated as I watched in awe.

"It has been confirmed that Miss Lime did indeed attempt to take her own life sometime early last month, a few weeks after she was released." Police Chief Bluestreak said somberly as he stared down at the podium at which he stood. "Now very understanably we were all very upset with the events that occured last year and we lost a beloved member of our community...but we in turn have made another member of our community who made a mistake that she has to live with for the rest of her life into a victim...and because of that, we nearly lost her as well. This isn't justice. She didn't deserve to be made to feel like she was worth less than anypony else and now all we can do is hope that she can recover from her illness and that we can let her know just how sorry we all are for what we've done to her. Mayor Max will now give his own testimony and then he and I will be taking questions."

Clutzy and I looked at each other with watery eyes and then back to the tv as Trottski's mayor then stepped up to the podium.

"I think I speak for everypony when I say that we completely lost sight of a lot of very important things." Mayor max began as I gently placed a hoof on the tv screen. "Have we all forgotten that Creampuff Lime was born and raised here in Trottski? We watched her grow up from a tiny little filly into the wonderful young mare she is today. Did any of us ever give any thought to how the accident affected her? She didn't just waltz away from it unscathed and without a care in the world.
She too is in just as much agony as every last one of us."

The Mayor then paused for a moment to wipe away tears that were rolling down his own cheeks.

"Instead of casting her aside...we should have been there for her at the very start. She is so young and has to live with this for so, so many years. We like to think that we're a tight knit community here but...we instead tore ourselves apart over this and utterly broke...no, destroyed her."

As I wept while watching the live broadcast, Mayor Max then turned to directly face the camera and it felt just as if he were looking me straight in the eye. Clutzy gently patted me on the shoulder to comfort me as we both watched and listened to the mayor continue his speech.

"As her lifelong friends and neighbors...we certainly didn't act like it. As her community that should have been there for her...we failed her..."

Clutzy and I were at a loss for words. With my twitching, glossy eyes I continued to stare at the small television as the broadcast ended and still gawked for still what seemed like five whole minutes. This was one of the best things that has happened since the accident last year. My neighbors had all at long last forgiven me and I will not hesitate to do the same for them. I could sleep easy tonight knowing this and hopefully try not to think about what else Doctor Coal Hammer had in store for me tomorrow...for now.

As I slept, Clutzy spent his time haunting the halls of the facility and just in general scoping the place out and looking for any way he could make his presence known. For some reason, he has had difficulty picking up even the lightest of objects which seems to come and go. We're not sure why, it just doesn't make sense to us. Celestia's sun warmed me up through my window to the city as I slowly faded in and out of my slumber. It's pretty early, I must have slept like rock.

Seeming how I've developed a mild case of cabin fever, I figured it might be good for me to soak up some rays and take a look at what little of this bustling city I can see. The intensely loud music blaring from a passing car suddenly cut out being replaced by the sound of some ponies shouting. I don't mind a little action happening around town but not when ponies get hurt as a result and sure enough, I peaked out my window to see two Saltzicuse police officer beating some other guy's ass as a few others stood around dunking their donuts into their coffee. Typical Saltzicuse. That's probably why they wear black uniforms, to hide the blood stains. I don't want to see this.

Well, so much for that idea. Turns out however, I wouldn't have to wait very much longer as just as I hopped back down from the little table just under the window, the clicking of the lock on my door being undone caught my attention. Much to my bemusement, sure enough, Doctor Coal Hammer opened up the door signaling the start of my day and whatever shit he was about to put me through.

"Hey, we've got a lot going on today, so you can eat breakfast in my office while we talk, okay?" Doctor Coal Hammer began, sounding somewhat friendlier and slightly less cold than usual.

Still not trusting that my day will even be remotely decent, I followed my healthcare provider anyway but was grateful that he didn't feel the need to strap me down to a stretcher. I followed close behind him without either of us uttering a word...that is, until we started trotting past through the sex offender ward again. I heard Coal Hammer express his very understandable distaste for foal molesters but I never expected him to say what I was just about to hear.

"You fucking ponies..." Coal Hammer said quietly to himself as we trotted past locked rooms harboring sex offenders. "...beyond disgust me. Vile scum, nothing more. It's a big waste to keep you all alive. If I didn't have any witnesses, I'd put a forty-five slug through all your skulls..."

"Don't you think..." I began nervously. "...maybe that's just a tad harsh?"

"For the things they've done? Nope. Fuck them all. If it were up to me, they'd be euthanized. If I knew I could get away with it that is."

Little did I know, as Coal Hammer ranted about his intense hatred of pedofoals, he stopped in his tracks as I glanced around at the creepy faces staring at us and came within a fraction of an inch from bumping into him. I wasn't going fast and bumping into somepony to most is no big deal. On the contrary, Doctor Coal Hammer took quite the issue with it as he noticed at the last second and flared his wings as he scooted out of the way with a single powerful flap.

"Watch it!" Coal Hammer snapped, startling me. "You almost touched me! Okay, number one rule here, never touch me for any reason! I can't stand being touched by somepony! Got it?"

"I-I-I'm sorry!" I stuttered as I backed up with my ears folded back. "I didn't mean to, I swear!"

After a minute of listening to Coal Hammer rant and rave about how he hasn't allowed another pony to touch him since he was a teenager, we both finally calmed down after another minute or two and resumed our trot to his office. On our way there, I gave this situation some thought and started putting two and two together. He refuses to work with pedofoals within his profession, hates them to a point where he wouldn't think anything of executing them and has a complete meltdown when somepony gets anywhere near him or brings up his foalhood. Oh my Faust...something must have happened to him...but I don't dare ask him about it.

"Okay, so where is he right now?" A now much more calm Coal Hammer asked me about my little ghost companion.

"Um, he's...right here." I replied as I pointed to directly where Clutzy was hovering while myself and Coal Hammer sat across from each other in a chair of our own.

I mean, I know I'm the only one who can see him but this is just getting weird. Coal Hammer stuck a probe from a digital thermometer and unbeknownst to himself, ended up shoving straight through Clutzy's stomach. The look on Coal Hammer's face when the readings abruptly changed was a mixture of excitement and soon replaced by confusion.

"I knew it!" Coal Hammer squealed with delight. "A substantial temperature change...but...the temperature...increased? Any of my studies have always shown that paranormal entities bring the temperature down, not up? I've never seen anything like it, it went up by nearly eight degrees!"

"Well, he is pretty warm." I replied. "We've hugged a lot and he just makes me feel better, you know?" Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned hugs. Coal Hammer frowns as he straps some goggles to his head.

"I don't get the appeal. Of course I'm sure you know that now. Okay let's see...my Fuast..."

"What, what is it?"

"There's a thermal reading! There's actually a big orange cloud of heat floating right in front of me! Now if only I could actually find a way to make him visible without needing the goggles..."

"You still haven't told me exactly why you spend so much time and effort to finding ghosts."

"In due time, little missy, in due time. Now that I've recorded some thermal images, I'm going to need to scan your actual brain and try to see why you can actually se-"

A sudden knock on door to Coal Hammer's office cut him off and judging by his suddenly furrowing brow, he wasn't happy about it at all. The day was winding down at this point and most of the hospital staff had gone home for the day so it was unlikely that it was somepony who works here. An irritated Doctor Coal Hammer then huffed angrily as he trotted over the the door and gave an annoyed groan before opening the door.

"Oh Faust damn it..." Coal Hammer huffed. "It's that mare Doctor Bleeding Heart set me up on a date with. I really don't have time for this shit right now."

"Hi, Coal!" A pretty mare in her early forties beamed as the doctor opened the door. "You haven't returned my calls so I figured maybe you've just been really busy lately."

"You got that right. Did you need something? I'm with a patient right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I mean, if we could just talk out here, I'll only take just a minute."

"Uh huh..."

I've got a bad feeling about this. From what I've gathered, Doctor Bleeding Heart tried to help Coal Hammer get out into the dating world and despite the former's good intentions, the latter is anything but interested. I haven't dated a whole lot but I've had a coltfriend before and dating typically entails occasional displays of affection and this mare doesn't seem to be aware of Coal Hammer's strong dislike for physical contact. I hope she doesn't have to learn the hard way as she seems to really like him.

"So um, now that I've got you here..." The mare began, her voice coming in clear through the closed paper thin door. "I was just wondering if you were busy this weekend and if you're not maybe we could go out again."

"Yes, I'm going to be incredibly busy this weekend." Coal Hammer curtly replied.

"Oh. Okay, how about Tuesday? My schedule is pretty flexible, I can move some days around."

"I don't see any free days in the foreseeable future. Now if you'll excuse me..."

The door slowly creaked open as Coal Hammer began to trot back in and for a moment, it started to appear as if the crisis I perceived a moment ago would be averted. Clutzy and I breathed a sigh of short lived relief before what happened next that caused our pupils to shrink down to pinpricks. My pulse quickened as the scene seemingly transpired in slow motion. There is going to be some serious trouble.

"Coal, please, I really like you and I think we really hit it off before." The hurt mare said as she reached out to place a hoof on Coal Hammer's shoulder. "I just wanted to get to know you bet-"

"Bwaaahhaahaaahhh!!" Coal Hammer screamed as he flared his wings out and swiftly backed away from the startled mare, the latter on the verge of crying. "Don't fucking touch me!! Don't ever touch me!!"

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, I didn't know you had a problem wit-"

"Just get the fuck out of here!! Don't ever talk to me again!!"

The now broken hearted mare then galloped away as she sobbed profusely and Coal Hammer just stood there and stared off into space. Now, I'm no mental health expert but my theory that I developed before just seems to be holding more and more water. I can feel it in my bones, there's an impending meltdown and sure enough, Coal Hammer collapsed to the floor with his face buried in his hooves and his wings covering the top of his head. He's having some sort of a panic attack and I can do nothing but stand over here and watch helplessly as he freaks out. Normally, a comforting hug or a pat on the back is a good way to calm somepony down but that's obviously out of the question. He obviously needs therapy as much if not more than I do.

"Nooohohohooohh!!" Coal Hammer screamed as he lay on his stomach on the floor as he underwent a meltdown. "Daaad, Mooom, Pleeeaaase don't touch me again!! Not again!! Get away from meee!!!"

I didn't know what to do. The only thing I could do was just let him be and allow his panic attack to take its course. It all made sense now, everything was all coming together. He despises pedofoals with a passion unmatched by anything I've ever seen, hates being touched to the point of chasing away potential meaningful relationships and experiencing an episode. His freezing on the spot before freaking out must have been some memories of traumatic events coming back to him and to top it all off, he reveals that it involved his parents. That's when mine and Doctor Bleeding Heart's theory was just proven correct as clear as day. There is no other conclusion that can be drawn from this. My doctor is a sexual abuse survivor.

Author's Note

Here's this to hold you over for now. Things will only go downhill from here and we will get to know Coal Hammer and better understand his goals.